lacteus Latin · revision 34547

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=280/260–before 200 BC, Livius Andronicus|origins=la lac}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lacteus''' (feminine lactea, neuter lacteum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|lac|-eus|t1=milk]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan takes [[m|la|lac]] to be cognate with [[grc|γάλα|tr=gála|t=milk]]; he rejects Leumann's view that it was borrowed from Greek.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary notes that the etymology is controversial, with no agreement on the cognates or on whether the word was inherited or borrowed.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found first in Livius Andronicus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) meaning of milk: a line of his tragedy speaks of milking out milky help.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant made of or full of milk, as udders in Virgil;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Martial uses it of a sucking pig and home-born slaves fed on milk.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) By likeness it was milky, as the juice of the fig in Pliny the Elder, and above all milk-white, as the necks in Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Cicero's Aratea has ''lacteus orbis'' for the Milky Way, Ovid ''via lactea'' and Pliny ''circulus lacteus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Quintilian praises the “milky richness”, ''lactea ubertas'', of Livy's style.^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Medieval writers in Britain use it of food made of milk,^(DMLBS) and Niermeyer gives the senses sweet and pure.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it of milk.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero calls the Milky Way ''lacteus orbis''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of milk-white necks.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian praises the ''lactea ubertas'' of Livy.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of [[m|en|milk]], made of milk; full of milk.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Unweaned, sucking.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # [[m|en|milky|alt=Milky]], like milk; of plants, full of milky juice.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # [[m|en|milk-white|alt=Milk-white]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''lacteus orbis'', ''circulus lacteus'', ''via lactea'': the [[m|en|Milky Way]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(of style)'' Rich, flowing.^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Sweet, pure.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lacteolus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lac]]

+ * [[lactāneus]]

+ * [[lactāris]]

+ * [[lactārius]]

+ * [[lactātum]]

+ * [[lacteō]]

+ * [[lactēscō]]

+ * [[lacticīnium]]

+ * [[lactifer]]

+ * [[lactineus]]

+ * [[en|lacteal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}