lorica Latin · revision 31500

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la lōrum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɫoːˈriː.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [loˈriː.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lōrīca''' ''f'' (genitive lōrīcae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is disputed; the OLD calls it doubtful.^(OLD 2012) It is often derived from [[lōrum|t=leather strap, thong]], as Varro already did, explaining that breastplates were made of raw hide;^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Walde–Hofmann keep this view because the cuirass was originally of leather.^(de Vaan 2008) A loan from [[grc|θώραξ|tr=thṓrax|t=breastplate]] has also been proposed, or a borrowing of both words from an unknown Mediterranean language.^(de Vaan 2008) The TLL suggests a foreign origin if Varro's explanation is rejected.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) who has a soldier calling for his arms and his cuirass.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a corselet or cuirass of leather, metal or other material, as Cicero's man who walks about in a cuirass and Virgil's mail of interlinked hooks and gold;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis and Short contrast it, as a leather cuirass, with the bronze ''thōrāx''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Horace it stands for military service, of a man who exchanges his books for Spanish cuirasses.^(OLD 2012) Pliny the Elder calls a snail's shell a cuirass.^(OLD 2012) By transfer it is a parapet or breastwork, a protective coating of plaster in Vitruvius, and an overhanging ledge or cornice.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “breastplate”.^(Stelten 1995) In medieval Latin it is also a knight in mail, and ''feudum lōrīcae'' a knight's fee owing the service of a knight.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a soldier's cuirass.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a man walking about in a cuirass.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a coat of mail.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of a coating of plaster.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|cuirass]], corselet, [[m|en|breastplate]]; a coat of mail.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A parapet, [[m|en|breastwork]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A protective coating; a ledge or cornice.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A knight in mail;^(Niermeyer 1976) ''feudum lōrīcae'', a knight's [[m|en|fee]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[loricarius]]

+ * [[lōrīcō]]

+ * [[lōrīcula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lōrum]]

+ * [[thōrāx]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}