lyricus Latin · revision 34491

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=65–8 BC, Horace|origins=grc λυρικός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈly.rɪ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lyricus''' (feminine lyrica, neuter lyricum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|λυρικός|tr=lurikós|t=of or for the lyre]],^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) from [[m|grc|λύρα|tr=lúra|t=lyre]].^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary) Köbler calls the Greek word for the lyre a technical loanword from the Mediterranean area.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Secure examples begin with Horace and Ovid;^(TLL) Horace has ''lyricī vātēs'', lyric bards.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Cicero, in the ''Orator'', still writes the Greek word in Greek letters for the poets the Greeks call lyric.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective means “of the lyre” and then “lyric” of poems and poets: Ovid speaks of the sounds of the lyre and calls Anacreon the lyric old man, and Statius calls Pindar the ruler of the lyric band.^(Lewis & Short 1879) As a noun the masculine, usually plural, means the lyric poets, from Seneca and Petronius on;^(OLD 2012) Quintilian calls Pindar the chief of the lyric poets.^(OLD 2012) The neuter plural names lyric poems in Tacitus and Pliny the Younger.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Late writers use the singular noun of single poets such as Bacchylides and Stesichorus.^(Georges 1913) In medieval British sources it keeps the sense “lyric” and also means pleasant to the ear, sweet.^(DMLBS) English ''lyric'' came through French in the 1580s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of lyric bards.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the sounds of the lyre and of Anacreon.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses the plural noun for lyric poets.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian calls Pindar the chief of the lyric poets.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses the neuter plural for lyric poetry.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius uses the singular noun for a lyric poet.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1580s – English borrows ''lyric'' through French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or belonging to the [[m|en|lyre]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of poems and poets: [[m|en|lyric]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Pleasing to the ear, sweet.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(masculine, chiefly plural)'' A lyric [[m|en|poet]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(neuter plural)'' Lyric poetry, lyric poems.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lyrica]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lyra]]

+ * [[lyricen]]

+ * [[lyristēs]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}