labium Latin · revision 5842

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɫa.bi.ũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlaː.bi.um]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''labium''' ''n'' (genitive labiī or labī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*labjo-]], beside [[labrum]] “lip”.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[ang|lippa|t=lip]], [[goh|lefs|t=lip]] and [[en|lip]], from Proto-Germanic *lepjan-.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan notes that nouns for “lip” with /b/ are found only in Germanic, that *b is a rare sound in Indo-European, and that a derivation from a root [[ine-pro|*leb-|t=to hang loosely]] is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Greek [[grc|λοβός|tr=lobós|t=lobe]] is a less certain cognate.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, mostly in the plural ''labia''.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a lip, and ''prīmōribus labiīs'' “with the tips of the lips”, very slightly.^(OLD 2012) Plautus has ''labiīs ductāre'' “to lead by the nose”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Cato uses it of a flange.^(OLD 2012) It is found as a neuter and as a feminine.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Christian Latin it came to mean the mouth and speech, a tongue or language, and the rim of a vessel.^(Niermeyer 1976) [[en|labium]] was borrowed in the 1590s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a flange.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1590s – English ''labium'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

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

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

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' Speech; a language.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' The rim of a vessel.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[labeō]]

+ * [[labia]]

+ * [[sublabium]]

+ * [[labiālis]]

+ * [[labiō]]

+ * [[labiōsus]]

+ * [[labeōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[labō]]

+ * [[lambō]]

+ * [[labrum]]

+ * [[en|lip]]

+ * [[en|labial]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}