lutra

Forms

lutra f (genitive lutrae); first declension^[1] Varro has the spelling lytra.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *udrā-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ud-ro-, an adjective meaning “of the water” that came to name a water animal, the otter.^[4] The change of PIE /dr/ to Latin /tr/ is regular, but the initial ⟨l⟩ is a later addition: de Vaan suggests it may come from lavō (“to wash”), or, since the otter is a carnivore, from lupus (“wolf”), and also considers the influence of lūdō (“to play”), as otters are playful.^[4] Wiktionary likewise explains the ⟨l⟩ by analogy.^[1] The feminine gender, which Latin shares with Balto-Slavic, probably generalises the feminine of the adjective.^[4] The OLD calls the origin doubtful.^[5]

Cognate with Sanskrit उद्र (udrá-), Avestan udra-, Lithuanian ū́dra and Old Prussian wudro, all meaning “otter”, with Ancient Greek ὕδρος (húdros, “water snake”), and with Old High German ottar and Old Norse otr.^[4]

Varro derived the word from luō (“to loosen”), because the otter was said to cut through the roots of trees on the bank.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Varro,^[4] in the form lytra, for the otter.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder describes the otter beside the beaver, noting that both live in water.^[6][2] In British Medieval Latin it remained the word for the otter, with forms such as lutrea and lutrius;^[7] Bede mentions sea creatures that people call lutreae.^[7] Through Vulgar Latin forms reshaped by analogy it gave Italian lontra and French loutre.^[1]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses the form lytra for the otter.^[2][8]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the otter beside the beaver.^[2][8]
• 764 – A charter from Britain mentions otter skins.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An otter.^[5][2]

Related words

• English otter

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de