lanx Latin · revision 3496

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Twelve Tables}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɫaŋks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlaŋks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lanx''' ''f'' (genitive lancis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny connect it with Greek words meaning “crooked” such as [[grc|λοξός|tr=loxós|t=slanting]], and with [[grc|λέκος|tr=lékos|t=dish]] and [[grc|λεκάνη|tr=lekánē|t=basin]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan finds a meaning “crooked” unconvincing for a plate and notes that the Latin vowel is hard to explain.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The OLD, Georges and the TLL compare the Greek words for “dish”.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It appears in the Laws of the Twelve Tables (c. 450 BC),^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in the old procedure of searching a house for stolen goods ''per lancem liciumque''.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a metal dish, plate or platter, as in Plautus and in Cicero's “fern-patterned dishes”, and the poets piled such dishes with offerings on altars.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It was also the pan of a pair of scales, and figuratively ''aequa lance'' meant “impartially”, “with an even balance”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ In the legal procedure ''per lancem liciumque'' the searcher apparently went naked except for the dish.^(OLD 2012) In Medieval Latin it was also the paten for the host.^(Köbler 2010) It survives as Italian ''lance''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it in the search for stolen goods.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of dishes.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the pan of a balance.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius describes the search ''per lancem liciumque''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A metal [[m|en|dish]], [[m|en|plate]], [[m|en|platter]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The pan of a pair of scales, ''aequa lance'': impartially.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' ''per lancem liciumque'': a formal search for stolen property.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|paten]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lancicula]]

+ * [[lancula]]

+ * [[aequilanx]]

+ * [[bilanx]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|balance]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Its compound ''bilanx'', “with two pans”, is the source of English ''balance''.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}