laquear Latin · revision 34768

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=70–19 BC, Virgil}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɫa.kʷe.ar]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈlaː.kʷe.ar]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''laquear''' ''n'' (genitive laqueāris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is mostly used in the plural ''laqueāria''; the singular ''laqueāre'' is found in the ''Culex'', and grammarians also give ''laqueārium''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) Manuscripts of Virgil also have the spelling ''lacuaria''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unclear.^(TLL) The TLL notes that it means the same as [[m|la|lacūnar|t=panelled ceiling]], which is derived from [[m|la|lacūna|t=hollow]], but that it is not clear how this word was formed; it compares the spelling ⟨lacuar-⟩, the older ⟨lacuatus⟩ in Ennius, and [[m|la|lacus|t=hollow, basin]].^(TLL) Lewis and Short call it related to [[m|la|laqueus|t=noose]] and to that noun for a ceiling,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Köbler refers it to the same word for a noose.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ Ancient grammarians disagreed: Servius derived the whole group from the word for a hollow, through the diminutive for a ceiling, while Priscian derived this one from the word for a noose; a later note on Servius insists that it comes from hollows and not from nooses.^(TLL) Isidore of Seville took it over from Servius.^(TLL)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler and the TLL record it first in Virgil,^(Köbler 2010)^(TLL) who in the ''Aeneid'' describes lamps hanging from gilded ceilings: ''dependent lychni laquearibus aureis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The TLL notes that it belongs above all to dactylic poetry from Virgil on, and appears in prose first in Seneca, then in Pliny the Elder, Tacitus and Apuleius, in prose often less than [[lacūnar]].^(TLL) Pliny the Elder writes of ceilings now covered with gold even in private houses, and Seneca of carved ceilings.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Isidore defines ''laquearia'' as what covers and adorns a vault.^(TLL) Stelten gives “rafter” and “panel” for Ecclesiastical Latin.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a gilded ceiling in the ''Aeneid''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – The ''Culex'' has the singular.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca is the first to use it in prose.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes of gilded ceilings in private houses.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 400 AD – Servius derives the word from hollows.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines it.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A panelled or [[m|en|coffer|alt=coffered]] [[m|en|ceiling]] (usually in the plural).^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A [[m|en|rafter]], a ceiling panel.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}