limus Latin · revision 5068

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈliː.mʊs]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''līmus''' ''m'' (genitive līmī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*(s)le/oimo-]].^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan allows two sources: [[ine-pro|*loimo-|t=loam]], from *h₂li- “to smear”, as in [[ang|lām|t=loam]] and [[goh|leim|t=loam]], or *sle/oh₁i-mo- “slime”, as in [[lt|slíekas|t=earthworm]] and [[cu|слина|tr=slina|t=saliva]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The Thesaurus calls the origin uncertain.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus uses it: “I'll run to the lake and fetch mud”.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it was mud, mire, slime or silt, as Lucretius' heavy matter of the world that sank to the bottom like mud, and Virgil's frogs singing in the mud.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It was any viscous substance, as Pliny's lichen of trees, and also sediment and excrement.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Döderlein says it is the mud of water, against [[lutum]], the dirt of the streets, and [[caenum]], filth.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In medieval Britain it was mud as a building material, the clay from which man was made, and a type of degradation.^(DMLBS) It survives as [[it|limo]], [[es|limo]] and [[fr|limon]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius compares the heavy matter of the world to mud.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of lichen.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|Mud]], mire, [[m|en|slime]], [[m|en|silt]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Any viscous substance, slime.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Sediment; excrement; filth.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[limicola]]

+ * [[limigenus]]

+ * [[līmōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lituus]]

+ * [[lutum]]

+ * [[caenum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ There are homographs ''līmus'' “sidelong, oblique”, as in ''līmīs oculīs'' “with a sidelong glance”, and ''līmus'' “an apron edged with purple worn by sacrificial attendants”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Isidore derived ''līmus'' “mud” from [[lēnis]] “soft”.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}