larva Latin · revision 2910

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɫaːr.wa]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlar.va], [ˈɫaː.ru.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lārva''' ''f'' (genitive lārvae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ In Plautus the older spelling ''larua'' is scanned as three syllables.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan finds a link with [[Lar|alt=Lār]], the household god, through an older form *lās-, attractive in meaning,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline) though the difference in vowel length is unexplained.^(Wiktionary) The OLD compares Lār too,^(OLD 2012) and Varro and Servius already derived it from that word.^(TLL) The TLL suggests it may be an Etruscan word.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who writes of a man driven mad, ''larvae stimulant virum'', “ghosts are goading the man”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant an evil spirit or [[m|en|ghost]], and Plautus also used it as an insult, “you spook!”^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) By transfer it was a frightful mask, as in Horace,^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) and Petronius uses it for a jointed skeleton figure brought out at a banquet.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary) Medieval writers used it for demons and goblins.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS)^(NGML)

+

+ English took it for a ghost in the 1630s, but this sense was crowded out after Linnaeus applied it in 1768 to the young forms of animals that do not look like, and so “mask”, the adult.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for ghosts and as an insult.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it for a mask.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 66 AD – Petronius uses it for a skeleton figure at a feast.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1630s – English borrows it for a ghost.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1768 – Linnaeus applies it to the immature forms of animals.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An evil spirit, [[m|en|ghost]], spectre.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(as an insult)'' Spook, scarecrow.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A frightful [[m|en|mask]].^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # A [[m|en|skeleton]] figure (shown at banquets).^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|demon]].^(Niermeyer 1976)^(NGML)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lārvālis]]

+ * [[lārvō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Lār]]

+ * [[en|larva]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes ''larva'', a frightful, caricatured mask, from ''persona'', a skilfully made mask representing a character.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}