lectica Latin · revision 31804

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Gaius Gracchus|origins=ine-pro *legʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lectīca''' ''f'' (genitive lectīcae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[lectus|t=bed, couch]] with the suffix [[m|la|-īca]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan derives ⟨lectus⟩ from [[itc-pro|*lekto-|t=bed]], from the root [[ine-pro|*legʰ-|t=to lie]], cognate with [[grc|λέχος|tr=lékhos|t=bed]] and [[got|𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽|tr=ligan|t=to lie]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Varro derived it from [[legō|t=to gather]], because people gathered straw to make a bed.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL's first examples are a speech of Gaius Gracchus, quoted by Gellius, about a young man carried in a litter, and Cicero.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a litter, a couch carried by bearers, used at first on journeys and later also in the city for comfort: Cicero describes Verres carried in a litter with eight bearers.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary notes the bedding, curtains and legs of the classical litter, and its use as a stretcher for the sick or injured.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “litter”.^(Stelten 1995) In medieval sources it is a bier, a couch or bed, a coffin, and a portable reliquary.^(Niermeyer 1976) The word passed into Greek and survives in Italian [[m|it|lettiga]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius quotes a speech of Gaius Gracchus about a young man in a litter.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of Verres' eight-bearer litter.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|litter]], a couch carried by bearers.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A [[m|en|stretcher]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|bier]]; a couch, bed; a [[m|en|coffin]]; a portable [[m|en|reliquary]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lectīcārius]]

+ * [[lectīcula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lectus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}