Etymologically
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malacus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈma.ɫa.kʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmaː.la.kus][1]

Forms

malacus (feminine malaca, neuter malacum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós, “soft, gentle”).[2][3][1][4] Köbler connects the Greek word with the Indo-European root *mel- (“to grind, crush”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a tragedy of Naevius, describing soft women's clothing (pallis patagiis crocotis malacis).[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

It was a word of early Latin, above all of Plautus: he speaks of a soft, warm cloak (pallium malacum et calidum) and of Greek sweating ointments that could be soft or emollient.[2][3] Transferred to people and their habits, it meant soft, delicate or luxurious: Ennius has men going “soft” to fetch the wreath of Venus, and Plautus a man who is supple at dancing.[2][3][6] The TLL also records it on an inscription from Africa dated AD 202.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of soft garments in a tragedy.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of a soft cloak and of a man supple at dancing.[3][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of soft, luxurious men.[2][4]
  • AD 202 – An African inscription uses the word.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Soft, pliant, supple.[2][3]
  2. Perhaps emollient, softening (of ointments).[2]
  3. Delicate, luxurious, voluptuous.[2][3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier