lusus Latin · revision 31400

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=ine-pro *loid-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lūsus''' (feminine lūsa, neuter lūsum); first/second-declension participle^(Wiktionary)

+ It is sometimes spelled ''lussus'', and once ''lōsus''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|lūdō|t=to play]] with the suffix [[m|la|-tus]] of action nouns.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces ⟨lūdō⟩ to [[itc-pro|*loid-e/o-|t=to play]] and [[ine-pro|*loid-|t=to let go often, play]], cognate with [[sga|laídid|t=impels]] and [[lt|léisti|t=to let]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL finds it from Varro onwards.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the action of playing, sport, and gambling, as Suetonius' game of dice;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Propertius has “the shepherds' yearly feasts, the games in the city”, and Livy young men who turned to games.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is something not taken seriously, as the elder Seneca's pirates for whom right and wrong are a game, and amorous play, as in Propertius.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) It is a public show, and ''lūsus Trōiae'' was a sham fight on horseback;^(OLD 2012) Martial uses it of the shows in Caesar's arena.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It is also a joke or prank, as the playful verses of the ''Priapea'', and a light literary work, as Ovid's trifles.^(OLD 2012) Lewis and Short note that it is not in Cicero.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein makes ''lūdus'' play as something offered to a person, and ''lūsus'' the play one carries on oneself.^(Döderlein 1874) Church Latin glosses it “game, sport, play”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of games and of love play.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of young men's games.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of light verse.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Playing, play, [[m|en|sport]]; [[m|en|gambling]]; a game.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Something not taken seriously; amorous play, [[m|en|dalliance]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A public show;^(OLD 2012) ''lūsus Trōiae'', a sham fight on horseback.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A joke, prank, jest.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A light literary work, a trifle.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lūdō]]

+ * [[lūdus]]

+ * [[lūdicer]]

+ * [[ēlūdō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate word ''lussus'' or ''lūsus'', “husband's brother”, is found only in the glosses.^(TLL) ''Lūsus'' is also a companion of Bacchus, whom Portuguese legend made the founder of Lusitania.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}