largus Latin · revision 2896

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɫar.ɡʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlar.ɡus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''largus''' (feminine larga, neuter largum, comparative largior, superlative largissimus, adverb largē or largiter); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(OLD 2012) Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny derived it from *lajes-ago- “carrying fat”, with the stem they also saw in [[laridum|alt=lāridum]] “bacon” and perhaps [[laetus]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan finds this doubtful: the long ⟨ā⟩, marked once in an inscription, may not be original, and the meaning is not convincing.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Bacchides'' sets it against its opposite: “just, unjust, mean, generous”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant [[m|en|generous]], bountiful or lavish, of people and, in poetry, of things, and Cicero speaks of someone who “wanted to be most generous”.^(OLD 2012) It also meant indulging freely, as ''largus bibendi'' “a hard drinker” in Gellius.^(OLD 2012) Of things it meant plentiful or copious, as Lucretius' large draughts and Cicero's sun filling the earth with abundant light, and with a genitive “rich in”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

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+ In Medieval Latin it also meant broad or wide, and the neuter ''largum'' meant width.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives with the sense “wide” as Romanian ''larg'', Italian, Spanish and Portuguese ''largo'', and French ''large''.^(Wiktionary) English ''large'' came from Old French about 1200, first meaning “generous”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for generous.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it for copious draughts.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for generosity and abundant light.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius explains ''bibosus'' as ''largus atque avidus bibendi''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1200 – English ''large'' is first recorded, meaning “generous”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Generous, bountiful, lavish.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Indulging freely (in).^(OLD 2012)

+ # Plentiful, copious, [[m|en|abundant]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(with genitive)'' Rich (in), abounding (in).^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Broad, wide.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[largificō]]

+ * [[largificus]]

+ * [[largifluus]]

+ * [[largiloquus]]

+ * [[largitās]]

+ * [[largitūdō]]

+ * [[largitus]]

+ * [[largiusculus]]

+ * [[praelargus]]

+ * [[largē]]

+ * [[largior]]

+ * [[largiter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|large]]

+ * [[en|largesse]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein notes that ''largus'' is anyone who gives richly, whatever the motive, the opposite of ''parcus'', while ''benignus'', ''liberalis'' and ''munificus'' describe the giver's virtue.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}