salax Latin · revision 34740

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=la saliō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈsa.ɫaːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈsaː.laks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''salāx''' (genitive ''salācis''), comparative ''salācior'', superlative ''salācissimus''; third-declension one-termination adjective^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|saliō#1|-āx|t1=to leap, jump|t2=inclined to]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) so that its first meaning was “fond of leaping”, of a male animal mounting the female.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Etymonline) De Vaan traces the verb to [[itc-pro|*sal-je-|t=to jump]] and [[ine-pro|*sh₂l-ie/o-]], cognate with [[grc|ἅλλομαι|tr=hállomai|t=to jump]], but notes that the development of the Latin vowel is not straightforward.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The earliest instance the OLD cites is in Varro, who describes cocks that are ''salācēs'', eager to mate, by their muscular build and red comb.^(OLD 2012) Köbler records the word first in Catullus.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was said chiefly of male animals and men eager for mating, highly sexed or [[m|en|lecherous]]: Ovid has a lustful ram, Columella speaks of the most salacious males, and Petronius uses it of a man.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In the ''Priapea'' Priapus is the ''salāx deus'', and Seneca, as quoted by Lactantius, calls Jupiter ''salācissimus'' in the poets.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Catullus transfers it to a place, the ''salāx taberna'', a tavern full of lust.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ From this it came to mean provoking lust, [[m|en|aphrodisiac]]: Ovid calls the rocket plant ''herba salāx'', and Martial and Columella use it of rocket and of bulbs.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of cocks eager to mate.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus calls a tavern ''salāx''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a ram and of the rocket plant as an aphrodisiac.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella uses the superlative of male animals.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ * 1640s – English takes it over as ''salacious'' “tending to provoke lust”; the sense “lustful” follows in the 1660s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # (of men and male animals) Eager to [[m|en|mate]], highly sexed, [[m|en|lustful]], [[m|en|lascivious]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(transferred)'' Full of lust.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # Stimulating sexual desire, [[m|en|aphrodisiac]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[salācitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[saliō#1]]

+ * [[en|salacious]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The OLD records, as doubtful, a noun ''salax'' naming an unidentified sea fish, a conjecture in a passage of Pliny the Elder where the manuscripts read ''solas''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}