litus Latin · revision 5860

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lītus''' ''n'' (genitive lītoris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*lei/ītos]], of uncertain origin.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan suggests [[ine-pro|*leit-os-|t=going]], from the root of [[got|𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌽|tr=galeiþan|t=to go]] and [[txb|lita|t=went away]], with a sense “going away”, then “end, side”, then “coast”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) He finds the link with *leiH- “to pour”, which Walde and Hofmann hesitantly accepted, senseless.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler gives that root.^(Köbler 2010) Isidore of Seville derived it from [[ēlīdō|alt=ēlīdere]], since the waves strike it.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character asks what men are on the shore.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant the seashore, coast or strand, and in poetry loosely a country bounded by a coast; it also meant a beach or landing place.^(OLD 2012) Lawyers defined it as far as the highest wave reaches.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein distinguishes [[rīpa]], the bank of a river, from ''lītus'' and [[ōra]], the shores of the sea.^(Döderlein 1874) The spelling ''littus'' is also found.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it was used of the shore of a lake and the bank of a river or moat.^(DMLBS) It survives in [[it|lido]], whence the name ''Lido''.^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of men on the shore.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero reports Aquilius' definition of the shore.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a country by the sea.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The seashore, [[m|en|coast]], [[m|en|strand]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(poetic)'' A country bounded by a coast.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|beach]], landing place.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The shore of a lake; the bank of a river.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lītorālis]]

+ * [[lītorārius]]

+ * [[lītoreus]]

+ * [[lītorōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|littoral]]

+ * [[en|lido]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It is distinct from ''litus'', the participle of [[linō]] “to smear”, and Medieval Latin also had ''litus'' “lite”, a member of a class between free men and serfs, a Germanic word.^(OLD 2012)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}