alea Latin · revision 31980

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈaː.ɫe.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈaː.le.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ālea''' ''f'' (genitive āleae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The spelling ''alia'' occurs in an inscription.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It has no known etymology.^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD derives it from [[grc|ἠλεός|tr=ēleós|t=distraught, crazed]], a suggestion de Vaan thinks better dismissed.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan speculates that, since knucklebones were used as dice, it might come from [[m|la|āla|t=wing; armpit]].^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary takes it as first “joint-bone”, from [[m|la|axis|t=axle, pivot]] through a form ⟨*axlea⟩,^(Wiktionary) and Lewis & Short report Curtius' comparison with words for bone.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who has “I tricked the soldier at dice”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a game of chance or gambling, with ''āleā lūdere'' “to play at dice”, and also the stake, as the nuts that were the only stake in Martial.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is “the die” in Caesar's ''iacta ālea est'' “the die is cast”, which Suetonius reports.^(OLD 2012) It also means risk, hazard or uncertainty, as Varro's men who follow reason, not chance, and the jurist Pomponius uses it of a risky purchase, as when a fisherman's catch is bought in advance.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it “game with dice, dice, chance, risk, venture”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a game of dice.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of chance as opposed to reason.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius reports Caesar's “the die is cast”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial of nuts as a stake.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A game of chance, [[m|en|dice]], [[m|en|gambling]]; the stake; figuratively, the die.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|risk|alt=Risk]], [[m|en|hazard]], uncertainty; a risky venture.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[āleāris]]

+ * [[āleārius]]

+ * [[āleātor]]

+ * [[āleō]]

+ * [[āleātōrium]]

+ * [[āleātōrius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[axis]]

+ * [[aleator|alt=āleātor]]

+ * [[ala|alt=āla]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}