lacrima Latin · revision 6966

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Livius Andronicus|origins=ine-pro *dáḱru-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɫa.krɪ.ma]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlaː.kri.ma]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lacrima''' ''f'' (genitive lacrimae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from Old Latin ⟨dacrima⟩, ⟨dacruma⟩, which Festus reports was frequent in Livius Andronicus, perhaps from Proto-Italic *d(r)(k)akrunā, from [[ine-pro|*dáḱru-|t=tear]].^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The change of ⟨d⟩ to ⟨l⟩ is as in [[lingua]].^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[grc|δάκρυ|tr=dákru|t=tear]], [[got|𐍄𐌰𐌲𐍂|tr=tagr]] and [[ang|tēar]].^(TLL)^(OLD 2012) The OLD takes it as probably borrowed from [[grc|δάκρυμα|tr=dákruma]], but the TLL doubts that Latin would borrow a mostly poetic Greek word for so common a thing.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) It is also spelled ⟨lacruma⟩, and ⟨lachryma⟩ in an inscription.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Livius Andronicus, whom he dates 280/260–before 200 BC.^(Köbler 2010) The OLD's earliest citation for a tear is from Ennius.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a tear, usually in the plural, as ''lacrimās effundere'' “to shed tears”, and the proverb ''nihil lacrimā citius ārēscit'' “nothing dries faster than a tear” is in the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium''.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In the plural it meant weeping, and in Catullus a lament.^(OLD 2012) From Virgil it was also used of drops of juice or gum oozing from plants, and of quicksilver from ore.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a tear.^(Stelten 1995) British Medieval Latin had ''vallis lacrimārum'' “vale of tears”, from the Psalms, and ''lacrimae siccae'' “crocodile tears”.^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''lacrima'', Spanish ''lágrima'', French ''larme'' and Romanian ''lacrimă''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus has the old form ''dacrima''.^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of tears.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a lament.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of plant juice.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

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

+ # ''(plural)'' Weeping; a lament.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A drop of juice or gum from a plant.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lacrimōsus]]

+ * [[lacrimula]]

+ * [[lacrimābilis]]

+ * [[lacrimābundus]]

+ * [[lacrimālis]]

+ * [[lacrimātiō]]

+ * [[lacrimō]]

+ * [[lacrimōsē]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|tear]]

+ * [[en|lachrymose]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}