sacrilegus Latin · revision 7077
16 Oct 2026, 13:11 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Plautus|origins=la sacer, la legō}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [saˈkrɪ.ɫɛ.ɡʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [saˈkriː.le.ɡus]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''sacrilegus''' (feminine sacrilega, neuter sacrilegum, adverb sacrilegē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[sacer]] “sacred” and [[legō]] “to gather, steal”, from the phrase ⟨sacra legere⟩ “to steal sacred things”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) An inscription has ⟨sacrilogos⟩.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of an impious person.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant robbing temples or sacred property, and as a noun a temple robber, as in Cicero and Propertius.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) From Plautus it meant guilty of any impious act, and of actions impious, sacrilegious, as Livy's ''sacrilegās manūs'' and Ovid's.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant sacrilegious, and as a noun a violator of a church or temple.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin also used it for idolatrous, superstitious.^(Niermeyer 1976) Its noun ''sacrilegium'' gave [[en|sacrilege]] about 1300, through Old French.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of an impious person.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of temple robbery.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy has ''sacrilegās manūs''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 1300 – English ''sacrilege'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Robbing temples; as a noun, a temple robber.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Impious, [[m|en|sacrilegious]]; as a noun, an impious person.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Idolatrous.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[sacrilegium]]
+ * [[sacrilegē]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[sacer]]
+ * [[sacerdōs]]
+ * [[sacerdōtālis]]
+ * [[sacerdōtium]]
+ * [[sacerdōtula]]
+ * [[sacrāmentālis]]
+ * [[sacrāmentum]]
+ * [[sacrārium]]
+ * [[sacrārius]]
+ * [[sacrātē]]
+ * [[legō]]
+ * [[en|sacrilege]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}