licium Latin · revision 33472

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=c. 450 BC, Twelve Tables}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''līcium''' ''n'' (genitive līciī or līcī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ A spelling ''līceum'' is also found.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+ Venantius Fortunatus has a feminine accusative plural ''līceās''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown: de Vaan finds no Indo-European etymology,^(de Vaan 2008) and the OLD and the TLL call it doubtful.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) De Vaan reports Eichner's reading of the archaic form ⟨louiquiod⟩ on the Forum inscription as a miswritten ablative of ⟨*loikwio-⟩ “thread”.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary suggests a loan from a non-Indo-European language.^(Wiktionary) The TLL records a derivation from [[m|la|ligō#1|t=to bind]],^(TLL) and Varro and Festus seem to have linked the old phrase ⟨in licium vocāre⟩ with [[m|la|illiciō|t=to entice]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is recorded first in the Twelve Tables,^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) in the rule that theft is to be searched for ''lance et liciō'', “with a dish and a thread”.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the old legal formula of the search for stolen goods ''per lancem līciumque'' it is the cord of the search.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) In weaving it is the leash or heddle that separates the warp threads, as in Lucilius, Virgil and Tibullus, where ''licia tēlae addere'' means “to set up a web”;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder says that weaving with many leashes was an invention of Alexandria.^(Lewis & Short 1879) More generally it is a thread or cord: Ovid has threads hanging from hedges, Virgil threads of three colours used in magic, and Petronius a string tying up a cloth.^(OLD 2012) Ecclesiastical Latin used it of lace or web.^(Stelten 1995) It survives in Romance, in Italian ''liccio'', Catalan ''llis'' and Spanish ''lizos''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables prescribe a search ''lance et liciō''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a weaver's leash.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in weaving and in magic.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of threads.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder credits Alexandria with weaving on many leashes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A length of [[m|en|yarn]], a [[m|en|thread]] or cord; a string, lace.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Threads used in [[m|en|magic]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # In weaving, a leash or [[m|en|heddle]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(law)'' In the formula ''per lancem līciumque'', the cord of the search for stolen goods.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bilīx]]

+ * [[līciātōrium]]

+ * [[liciatus]]

+ * [[licinium]]

+ * [[trilīx]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}