lemures Latin · revision 5276

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Horace}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɫɛ.mʊ.reːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlɛː.mu.res]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lemurēs''' ''m pl'' (genitive lemurum); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) De Vaan thinks it likely that it and [[grc|Λάμια|tr=Lámia|t=a man-eating monster]] were borrowed from a non-Indo-European word for malevolent spirits, perhaps Anatolian or Etruscan.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) He finds a direct link with [[grc|λαμυρός|tr=lamurós|t=greedy]] formally impossible, and the further Baltic and Celtic comparisons of Pokorny gratuitous.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Horace,^(de Vaan 2008) who mocks a man who laughs at dreams, magic, witches and nocturnal ghosts.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Horace 65–8 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''lemurēs'' were the malevolent ghosts of the dead, spectres or shades.^(OLD 2012) Ovid explains that the shades of the silent dead were called ''lemurēs'', and the festival to appease them was the [[Lemūria]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008) The grammarian Nonius defines them as night spirits and terrifying apparitions.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Medieval British writers still used it of malevolent spirits.^(DMLBS) In 1795 Linnaeus gave the name to the nocturnal primates of Madagascar, whence [[en|lemur]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of nocturnal ghosts.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid describes the ''lemurēs'' and the Lemuria.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1795 – Linnaeus applies the name to the lemurs.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(plural)'' The malevolent [[m|en|ghost|alt=ghosts]] of the dead, spectres, [[m|en|shade|alt=shades]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[phasma]]

+ * [[Lemūria]]

+ * [[larva]]

+ * [[en|lemur]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}