liber Latin · revision 5057

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=itc-pro *lufro-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈlɪ.bɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.ber]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''liber''' ''m'' (genitive librī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*lufro-]], perhaps from [[ine-pro|*lubʰ-ro-|t=leaf, rind]].^(de Vaan 2008) Several Indo-European languages have forms in *lubʰ- meaning “bast, leaf”, and the Latin word has been compared with them as if from *lubro-, on the model of the Latin alternation of ⟨u⟩ and ⟨i⟩ in [[lubet]] beside [[libet]]; de Vaan notes that no Latin form with ⟨u⟩ is attested, but for want of a better explanation he accepts the connection with a PIE or European word for “leaf, rind”.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sga|luib|t=herb]], [[sq|labë|t=rind, cork]], [[lt|lubà|t=plank, board]], [[ru|луб|tr=lub|t=bast]], [[got|𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃|tr=laufs|t=leaf, foliage]] and [[ang|lēaf]] ([[en|leaf]]).^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it as a book: a character boasts of a whole storeroom full of books.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010) The original sense, the inner bark of a tree, appears in Cato's advice not to tear off the bark.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word first named the living inner bark of a tree, distinguished by Cicero from the outer [[cortex]], on which writing was once done; from this it came to mean a book, a volume or roll written for publication, and a single volume of a longer work.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) The plural also named the sacred prophetic books consulted after prodigies, such as the Etruscan books, and the word was used of any long document, especially a ledger or record book.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In medieval Latin it also meant a charter.^(Niermeyer 1976) It lives on in [[it|libro]], [[es|libro]], [[pt|livro]] and [[fr|livre]], and was borrowed into [[sga|lebor]] and into Albanian and Basque.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of the inner bark of a tree.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero distinguishes the inner bark (''liber'') from the outer bark (''cortex'').^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It is used of a charter.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The inner [[m|en|bark]] of a tree, [[m|en|bast]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A [[m|en|book]] written for publication, a [[m|en|volume]] or roll; one book of a longer work.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(plural)'' Sacred books of [[m|en|prophecy]], consulted after prodigies.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Any long document, especially a record book or [[m|en|ledger]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|charter]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[librārius]]

+ * [[libellus]]

+ * [[libriger]]

+ * [[quadrilībris]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|library]]

+ * [[en|libel]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It is a different word from the adjective [[la|līber|alt=līber]] “free”, with a long ''ī'', which de Vaan traces to [[ine-pro|*h₁leudʰ-ero-]], a word for one belonging to the people.^(de Vaan 2008) Isidore explains ''liber'' as the inner layer of bark that clings to the wood.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}