lubricus Latin · revision 31297

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *sle/oubʰ-ro-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɫuː.brɪ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈluː.bri.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lūbricus''' (feminine lūbrica, neuter lūbricum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Manuscripts also have the spelling ''libr-''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[inh|itc-pro|*(s)loufre/o-ko-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*sle/oubʰ-ro-|t=gliding]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[got|𐍃𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍀𐌰𐌽|tr=sliupan|t=to creep, slide]] and [[ang|slūpan|t=to slip]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler sets it under a root [[ine-pro|*sleubʰ-|t=to glide, slip]] (Pokorny 963), with a question mark.^(Köbler 2010) Isidore of Seville derived it from [[m|la|lābor|t=to slip]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who has “a little too slippery a spot in the cellar” in the ''Miles gloriosus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of ground and steps it is slippery, giving no firm footing, and the neuter plural ''lūbrica'' is a slippery place, as Virgil's Salius rising from the slippery ground.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is of an oily or greasy consistency, hard to hold, as Cicero's eyes made slippery and mobile, of snakes and fish sinuous or wriggling, as Lucretius' ''lūbrica serpēns'', of the bowels loose, and of surfaces smooth and sleek.^(OLD 2012) Of streams it is gliding, and it is also said of time slipping by.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Figuratively it is hazardous or ticklish, as Cicero's style of speaking that is dangerous for a young man, and the neuter ''lūbricum'' is a dangerous situation, as in Cato.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Wiktionary also gives fleeting, inconstant, deceitful and tricky.^(Wiktionary) Church Latin glosses it “slippery, dangerous, impure”,^(Stelten 1995) and medieval Latin uses it for lewd.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|lubric]] “slippery; lewd” came from it in the late 15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a slippery spot.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato has the neuter of a dangerous situation.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a snake and of gliding streams.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of slippery eyes and of a hazardous style.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 15th century – English ''lubric''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|slippery|alt=Slippery]] (of ground, steps);^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) ''lūbricum'', a slippery place.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Oily, slimy, hard to hold; sinuous, wriggling; smooth, sleek;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''(of the bowels)'' loose.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Gliding, flowing (of streams, of time); fleeting.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Hazardous, ticklish, unsteady; deceitful, tricky;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) ''lūbricum'', a dangerous situation.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Lewd, [[m|en|lascivious]].^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lūbricitās]]

+ * [[lūbricō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lābor]]

+ * [[en|lubric]]

+ * [[en|slip]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}