lucus Latin · revision 5571

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *lewk-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɫuː.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈluː.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lūcus''' ''m'' (genitive lūcī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*louko-|t=sacred grove]], [[inh|ine-pro|*lówk-o-|t=light place, clearing]], from the root of [[lūx]] “light”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) An old inscription has [[m|la|loucom]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Cognate with [[osc|lúvkeí|t=in the grove]], [[xum|vukum]], [[sa|लोक|tr=loká|t=open space]] and [[goh|lōh|t=low bushes]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Isidore explains it by contraries, a dense grove that keeps out the light, or from the lights burnt there.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who speaks of the grove of Silvanus outside the wall.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) An early inscription from Spoletium forbids anyone to violate this grove.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a sacred grove, and Cato prescribes the Roman rite for thinning one (''lūcum collūcāre'').^(OLD 2012) In poetry it was any wood or grove.^(OLD 2012) Several towns were named from groves, as ''Lūcus Augustī'' in Gaul.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Medieval writers used it of the groves of idolaters cut down by the Christians, and in charters of a wood.^(DMLBS)^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in place names such as [[it|Lugo]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of the grove of Silvanus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of sacred groves.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus names ''Lūcus Augustī''.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sacred [[m|en|grove]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # (poetic) A wood, grove.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A wood.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lūcar]]

+ * [[lūcāris]]

+ * [[lūculus]]

+ * [[collūcō]]

+ * [[interlūcō]]

+ * [[sublucō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lūna]]

+ * [[lūx]]

+ * [[nemus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}