labyrinthus Latin · revision 3969

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Catullus|origins=grc λαβύρινθος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ɫa.byˈrɪn.tʰʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [la.biˈrin.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''labyrinthus''' ''m'' (genitive labyrinthī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|λαβύρινθος|tr=labúrinthos|t=maze]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Köbler compares Greek *λάβρυς “double axe”.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Catullus (81/79–52/50 BC).^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a building with many winding passages, especially the one Daedalus built in Crete, as in Virgil, and also the Egyptian labyrinth by Lake Moeris, which Pomponius Mela says had 3,000 rooms.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Figuratively it was a place one cannot escape, or a tangle.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Isidore describes it as a building with tangled walls, in which the Minotaur was shut up, and which no one could leave without a ball of thread.^(Isidore) English ''labyrinth'' was borrowed around 1400, with a Latin form ''laborintus'' in the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the Cretan labyrinth.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the labyrinths of Egypt and Crete.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1400 – English ''labyrinth'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|labyrinth]], [[m|en|maze]], especially that of Daedalus in Crete.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A place with no way out; a tangle.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[labyrinthēus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|labyrinth]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}