lolium Latin · revision 36300

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɫɔ.li.ũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈlɔː.li.um]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lolium''' ''n'' (genitive loliī or lolī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ There is no etymology.^(de Vaan 2008) The TLL calls the origin uncertain.^(TLL) The OLD compares [[sa|लोलति|tr=lṓlati|t=moves to and fro]], since the plant causes giddiness;^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary suggests, as a possibility, the imitative root [[ine-pro|*leh₂-]], from the plant's stunning effect,^(Wiktionary) and Köbler a root [[m|ine-pro|*lel-]] “to sound, lull”.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who has ''loliō victitāre'', “to live on darnel”, of someone with poor eyesight, since the plant was believed to harm the eyes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it is [[m|en|darnel]], a grass that grows as a weed among grain.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Virgil's line ''īnfēlīx lolium et sterilēs dominantur avēnae'', “unlucky darnel and barren oats take over”, names it among the weeds of the fields,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Ovid wishes that the fields be free of darnel, which harms the eyes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In British Medieval Latin it meant darnel and also corn cockle, and ''lolium murinum'' was wall barley;^(DMLBS) Alexander Neckam repeats the belief that wheat can degenerate into darnel.^(DMLBS) It survives in [[it|loglio]].^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions living on darnel.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses the word.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil names it among the weeds of the field.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid speaks of darnel that harms the eyes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|darnel|alt=Darnel]], a weed of grain fields, held to harm the eyes.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Corn [[m|en|cockle]];^(DMLBS) ''lolium murinum'', wall barley.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[loliārius]]

+ * [[lolleāceus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}