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reluceo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word reluceo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*leuk-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin luceo
Latin perluceo
Latin eluceo
Latin colluceo
Latin reluceo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈɫuː.ke.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈluː.t͡ʃe.o][1]

Forms

relūceō (present infinitive relūcēre, perfect active relūxī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + lūceō (“to shine”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces lūceō to Proto-Italic *l(o)ukē- (“to be light”) and Proto-Indo-European *luk-eh₁- (“to be light”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“light”) of lūx, and compares Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “clear, light”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Varro on.[3] Cicero's verse translation of Aratus has a star shining out.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is to shine out, give out light, blaze or glow, mostly in poetry and post-Augustan prose: Virgil has a flame blazing up and a huge beard catching fire, and Livy a flame shining out.[5][2] Pliny the Elder writes of a fish that glows on calm nights, and Pliny the Younger of flames shining from Vesuvius.[5] It is also used of white or bright things: rust shows through the sheen of bronze in Pliny the Elder, pebbles shine in a clear spring in Pliny the Younger, and a flower glows in Apuleius.[2] The OLD notes that some perfect forms may belong to relūcēscō.[2]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses the verb.[3][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a star shining out.[5][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a blazing flame.[5][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a glowing fish and rust showing through bronze.[2][5][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To shine out or back, give out light, blaze, glow.[2][5][1]
  2. Of white or bright things, to shine, gleam.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Reluceo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/reluceo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·