Etymologically
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lustralis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫuːsˈtraː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [lusˈtraː.lis][1]

Forms

lūstrālis (neuter lūstrāle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lūstrum2 (“purificatory sacrifice; period of five years”) + -ālis.[2][3][1] De Vaan reconstructs that noun as Proto-Italic *lūstro- (“expiation”) and, following Serbat, derives it from the root of luō (“to set free, atone”); he finds the older derivation from the root of lūx (“light”) unsupported by the meaning of the rite.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Virgil's Aeneid, where Aeneas eats of the entrails of a sacrifice offered for purification.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense belongs to the language of ritual: Livy has sacrificium lūstrāle, a sacrifice of purification, Ovid aqua lūstrālis, water used for cleansing, and Valerius Flaccus lustral vows;[3] the OLD adds that offerings so called served to avert evil.[2]

Since the lūstrum was performed every five years, the adjective also came to mean “quinquennial”: Tacitus speaks of a lūstrāle certāmen, a contest held every five years.[2][3] In Late Latin aurum lūstrāle was a tax levied every five years on small traders, moneylenders and brothel-keepers, and an inscription calls its collector lūstrālis.[3][1]

British medieval writers used it for “holy” (of water), for something that can be walked round, and as a noun for a circuit or track, and also for a post used to keep watch.[6]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of sacrificial entrails offered for purification.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy speaks of a sacrifice of purification.[3][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid writes of lustral water.[3][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a contest held every five years.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to ritual purification, lustral;[2][3] (of offerings) serving to avert evil.[2]
  2. Happening every five years, quinquennial.[2][3]
  3. (Late Latin) aurum lūstrāle: a tax collected every five years from traders.[3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) That can be walked round;[6] used for keeping watch.[6]

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) The collector of the aurum lūstrāle.[3][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A circuit, path, track.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press