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lympho

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word lympho

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1st century BC, participle lymphātus
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (νύμφη)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek νύμφη
Latin nympha
English nymph
Latin lympha
Latin lympho
Latin lymphatus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈlym.pʰoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈlim.fo][1]

Forms

lymphō (present infinitive lymphāre, perfect active lymphāvī, supine lymphātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lympha (“water; water nymph”) + -ō.[2][1] The OLD takes that noun as apparently an adaptation of Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride, young girl; spring water”) by dissimilation;[2] Wiktionary and Saalfeld simply derive it from the Greek word.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The participle lymphātus, “frantic, beside oneself”, is found in Livy, Virgil and Horace.[4] The OLD's first quotation for the verb is Pliny the Elder on a herb whose drink makes people frenzied, with visions before them (hāc pōtā lymphārī hominēs obversantibus mīrāculīs).[2][4] Köbler dates Pliny the Elder 23/24–79 AD.[5]

Semantic evolution

Valerius Flaccus and Statius use it of driving cities mad with fear, and Pliny the Elder has the present participle of frenzied minds.[4][2] Caelius Aurelianus uses it, in the sense of the noun, of wine diluted with water (vīnō lymphātō, id est, aquā temperātō).[4]

Timeline

  • 1st century BC – Livy, Virgil and Horace use the participle lymphātus.[4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of frenzy.[2][4][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of driving cities mad.[4][5]
  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of diluting wine with water.[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To drive crazy, derange, distract with fear.[2][4]
  2. (passive, present participle) To be in a frenzy.[2][4]
  3. (medicine) To dilute with water.[4][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Lympho.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/lympho. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·