luteus Latin · revision 32719

+ Two adjectives are spelled ''luteus'': ''lūteus'' “yellow”, from ''lūtum'' “weld”, and ''luteus'' “of mud”, from ''lutum'' “mud”.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ {{homograph|1|yellow}}

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lūteus''' (feminine lūtea, neuter lūteum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The yellow is [[af|la|lutum#1|-eus|alt1=lūtum|t1=weld, dyer's weed]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Wiktionary finds the origin of [[m|la|lutum#1|alt=lūtum]] unknown: perhaps a form ⟨clūtum⟩ from the root of [[fel]] and [[helvus]], or more likely a substrate word related to the source of [[gmw-pro|*waldu|t=dyer's weed]].^(Wiktionary) Roman philosophers connected the colour with [[m|la|dīlūtus|t=washed out]].^(Wiktionary) Döderlein derives it from [[grc|λωτός|tr=lōtós]].^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus.^(Köbler 2010) Lewis & Short first quote Varro, in Nonius, of a golden-yellow pigment.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is yellow, especially a bright, reddish or orange yellow: Horace has a yellow pallor and Tibullus a saffron-yellow robe.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is the flame colour of a bride's veil, in Catullus and Lucan.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of dawn it is rosy or saffron: Virgil has Aurora shining yellow in her rosy chariot, and Ovid the yellow Dawn.^(Lewis & Short 1879) As a noun ⟨lūteum⟩ is yellow, and in Pliny the Elder the yolk of an egg.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein calls it a decided yellow, like that of an egg yolk, unlike the fainter ⟨gilvus⟩ and ⟨helvus⟩ or the paler ⟨flāvus⟩ and ⟨lūridus⟩.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of a yellow pigment.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of a yellow pallor.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of saffron Aurora.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|yellow|alt=Yellow]], golden or saffron-yellow, orange-yellow.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Flame-coloured; of dawn, rosy.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(neuter as noun)'' Yellow; the yolk of an egg.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lūteolus]]

+ * [[lūteum]]

+ * [[sublūteus]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|of mud}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *l(H)u-to-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɫʊ.te.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''luteus''' (feminine lutea, neuter luteum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective “of mud” is [[af|la|lutum#2|-eus|t1=mud, clay]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan traces [[m|la|lutum#2|alt=lutum]] to [[itc-pro|*luto-]] and [[ine-pro|*l(H)u-to-|t=dirt]], comparing [[sga|loth|t=dirt]] and [[grc|λῦμα|tr=lûma|t=dirty water, moral filth]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who calls a prostitute worthless and dirty unless she minds her own business over her wine.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is made of mud or clay: Vitruvius has walls built of dried clods, and Ovid the swallow's nest.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Prudentius uses it of Adam, the man of clay.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively it is worthless: Cicero calls a man and a business in the ''Verrines'' worthless.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also muddy or dirty: Horace has the muddy source of the Rhine, Plautus uses it as abuse, and Juvenal has grimy Vulcan.^(OLD 2012) Martial has a body smeared with wrestler's ointment.^(OLD 2012) The TLL notes Italian and Romance words for mud that go back to its feminine.^(TLL) Church Latin glosses it of clay.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a worthless man.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of the muddy Rhine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of clay walls.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made of [[m|en|mud]] or [[m|en|clay]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Worthless, good-for-nothing.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Muddy, dirty, grimy; smeared.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lutum#1|alt=lūtum]]

+ * [[lutum#2|alt=lutum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}