lea Latin · revision 35919

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɫe.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈlɛː.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lea''' ''f'' (genitive leae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|leō|t=lion]], a feminine made to it.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) [[m|la|leō]] is itself [[bor|grc|λέων|tr=léōn|t=lion]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Varro used it in a fragment, ''panthera et lea'', quoted by the Virgil commentator Philargyrius,^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and the first surviving text with it is Lucretius, of lionesses that hurl their bodies in a leap.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a poetic word for a lioness, beside the usual [[leaena]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Ovid uses both, as in a ''saeva lea'' that he calls ''leaena'' a few lines before, and in the Chimaera with the breast and face of a lioness.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Valerius Flaccus uses it of lions in general.^(Georges 1913) A version of the Old Latin psalter has ''super leam et basiliscum'', where the Vulgate has ''aspidem''.^(TLL)

+

+ The Roman grammarians discussed whether it was good Latin.^(TLL) Philargyrius says that although the ancients denied that the word was Latin, it had authority; they used [[leō]] for both the male and the female, as Plautus did.^(TLL) Charisius says that one says ''leaena'', not ''lea'', but that Ovid has the latter,^(TLL) and Servius counts it, with ''hospita'' and ''paupera'', among the feminines the poets coined, since nouns in ⟨-o⟩ do not make feminines of their own.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses ''panthera et lea''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of enraged lionesses.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it in the ''Metamorphoses'' and the ''Fasti''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * end of the 1st century AD – Valerius Flaccus uses it of lions in general.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 400 AD – Servius counts it among the poets' feminines.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(poetic)'' A [[m|en|lioness]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(poetic)'' A [[m|en|lion]] in general.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[leō]]

+ * [[leaena]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The ordinary word is [[leaena]], which Servius calls Greek;^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Nonius notes ''leae'' used for ''leaenae''.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}