latro Latin · revision 30808

+ Latin has two common words spelled ''latro'': the verb ''lātrō'' “to bark” and the noun ''latrō'' “mercenary, robber”, which differ in the length of the first vowel.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

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+ {{homograph|1|bark}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=ine-pro *leh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɫaː.troː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈlaː.tro]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lātrō''' (present infinitive lātrāre, perfect active lātrāvī, supine lātrātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|itc-pro|*lātrom]], from [[ine-pro|*leh₂-|t=to bark, howl]], an expressive root.^(Wiktionary) The TLL takes it as a verb made from a lost noun in ⟨-tro-⟩ or ⟨-tra-⟩, as [[m|la|lāmentor]] was made from [[m|la|lāmenta]], and places the root beside Slavonic, Lithuanian and Albanian verbs for barking.^(TLL) The OLD and Wiktionary compare [[m|la|lāmentum|t=wailing]];^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary adds [[grc|λάσκω|tr=láskō|t=to crack, shout]] and [[m|grc|λῆρος|tr=lêros|t=nonsense]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Ennius uses it of a bitch that barks without teeth (''quasi fēta canēs sine dentibus lātrat''), and Plautus has ''etiam mē meae lātrant canēs?'', “are even my own dogs barking at me?”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Lātrō'' is the barking and baying of dogs, also of the cries of some birds and the roar of waves (Virgil).^(OLD 2012) Used of people it is to cry out like a hound on the scent, and to bawl in speaking: Cicero says some orators “bark rather than speak”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Horace has the “barking” (craving) stomach, and Lucretius nature that “clamours” for nothing else, so it also means to make insistent demands.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Döderlein contrasts ''lātrāre'', the hostile bark of a large dog and figuratively “to wrangle”, with ''gannīre'', the harmless yelp of a small dog, “to chatter”, and ''baubārī'', “to howl”.^(Döderlein 1874) Church Latin glosses it “bark”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius: ''quasi fēta canēs sine dentibus lātrat''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''etiam mē meae lātrant canēs?''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of orators who bark rather than speak.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of waves roaring round a rock.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(of dogs)'' To [[m|en|bark]], [[m|en|bay]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(of waves)'' To roar.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To bark at.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To cry out (like a hound on the scent); to bawl, [[m|en|rant]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To make insistent demands, clamour (for).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[allātrō]]

+ * [[circumlatrō]]

+ * [[collātrō]]

+ * [[ēlātrō]]

+ * [[illātrō]]

+ * [[oblātrō]]

+ * [[lātrābilis]]

+ * [[lātrātor]]

+ * [[lātrātus]]

+ * [[lātrātōrius]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|robber}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=grc λάτρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɫa.troː], [ˈɫat.roː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈlaː.tro], [ˈlat.ro]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''latrō''' ''m'' (genitive latrōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The robber was first a hired soldier, and the word is probably [[der|grc|λάτρον|tr=látron|t=pay, wages]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) The OLD derives it from an unattested Greek ⟨*látrōn⟩, comparing [[m|grc|λατρεύς|tr=latreús|t=hired servant]];^(OLD 2012) the TLL gives the choice between a Greek ⟨*látrēs⟩ “mercenary” and a Latin noun ⟨*latrum⟩ “pay”, from which it would be formed as [[m|la|praedō]] is from [[m|la|praeda]].^(TLL) Lewis & Short and Köbler compare [[m|grc|λάτρις|tr=látris|t=hired servant]];^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010) Köbler and Wiktionary also mention [[ine-pro|*leh₂t-|t=to grant, possess]], and Wiktionary calls the origin disputed.^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Ennius uses it of mercenaries: ''fortūnās … suās coepēre latrōnēs inter sē memorāre'', “the hired soldiers began to talk among themselves of their fortunes”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) Plautus still has the sense: ''ut latrōnēs quōs condūxī hinc ad Seleucum dūcere'' (“to lead the mercenaries I hired to Seleucus”).^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short note that the sense “hireling, mercenary” is only pre-classical.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the soldier serving for pay the word came to mean a brigand, robber or bandit: Cicero cites the Twelve Tables, which forbid killing a thief “that is, a robber and bandit” by day.^(OLD 2012) It was a term of abuse (Cicero, of Antony), was used with a genitive for a plunderer, and was applied to predatory animals such as the wolf in Phaedrus and to a hunter lying in wait.^(OLD 2012) In Ovid and Martial a ''latrō'' is a piece in a board game.^(OLD 2012) ''Latrō'' was also a Roman cognomen, borne by the rhetorician Marcus Porcius Latro, a friend of the elder Seneca.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

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+ In Church Latin it is the robber or thief;^(Stelten 1995) medieval Latin also uses it for criminal jurisdiction over theft and robbery, and for a demon.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of mercenaries.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a robber in the Twelve Tables.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a piece in a board game.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus calls the wolf ''latrō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A hired soldier, [[m|en|mercenary]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A [[m|en|brigand]], robber, [[m|en|bandit]]; also a term of abuse, a plunderer.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A beast of prey; a hunter in ambush.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A piece in a board game.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A thief; jurisdiction over theft and robbery; a demon.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[latrōcinium]]

+ * [[latrōcinor]]

+ * [[latrunculus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[latrōcinālis]]

+ * [[latrōcinātiō]]

+ * [[latrunculārius]]

+ * [[lāmentum]]

+ * [[praedō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}