lux Latin · revision 2936

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Twelve Tables|origins=ine-pro *lewk-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɫuːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈluks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lūx''' ''f'' (genitive lūcis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ In old phrases such as ''primo luci'' it is masculine, and Plautus usually treats it as masculine.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*louk-|t=light]], [[inh|ine-pro|*leuk-|t=light]], an old root noun.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) From the same root come [[luceo|alt=lūceō]] “to shine” and [[lumen|alt=lūmen]] “light”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[hit|lukk-|t=to dawn]], [[sa|रुच्|tr=rúc-|t=light]], [[grc|λευκός|tr=leukós|t=white, bright]] and [[en|light]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It appears in the Laws of the Twelve Tables.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Ennius writes of the horses of the Sun breathing out light from their nostrils.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant [[m|en|light]], as Cicero contrasts the light of the sun with that of lamps, and especially daylight, ''luce clarius'' was “clearer than day”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It meant the day as opposed to night, a particular day, as Accius' “last day”, and the light of life, so that to give someone light was to give them life.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It was used for the gleam of gems, for eyesight, for light shed on a question, and for splendour or a shining example.^(OLD 2012) It also meant hope or deliverance, as when Cicero says one man's courage brought light to the state.^(OLD 2012) Medieval writers called God ''auctor lucis'', “the author of light”, and philosophers treated light as a substance.^(DMLBS) It survives as Italian and Romanian ''luce'' and Spanish and Portuguese ''luz''.^(Wiktionary) English ''lucid'' comes from its derivative ''lucidus''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it for the light of the sun.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it for a day.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero contrasts sunlight and lamplight.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1590s – English ''lucid'' is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|Light]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Daylight; the light of day.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A day.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The light of life, life.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Gleam, brightness.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|Eyesight]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Enlightenment, clarification.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Splendour, distinction.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Hope, deliverance.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[collūcō]]

+ * [[interlūcō]]

+ * [[Lūcānus]]

+ * [[lucerna]]

+ * [[lūcifer]]

+ * [[lucificus]]

+ * [[lucifluus]]

+ * [[lucinus]]

+ * [[luciparens]]

+ * [[lucipetus]]

+ * [[lucisator]]

+ * [[lūculentus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[luceo]]

+ * [[lūmen]]

+ * [[lūcus]]

+ * [[lūna]]

+ * [[en|lucid]]

+ * [[en|lucent]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes ''lumen'', a body that gives light, from ''lux'', the light that streams from it, citing Cicero's lamp whose ''lumen'' is lost in the ''lux'' of the sun.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}