lotus Latin · revision 7619

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Cicero|origins=grc λωτός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lōtus''' ''m'' (genitive lōtī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a variant of ⟨lōtos⟩, [[bor|grc|λωτός|tr=lōtós|t=lotus]], a Greek word of unknown further origin.^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)^(Etymonline) The OLD treats it as feminine, masculine in Martial.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Cicero, of the nettle tree.^(OLD 2012) Köbler's first source is Virgil; he dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant the fabled plant whose fruit brings forgetfulness, often identified with the jujube, as in the ''Culex'' and Propertius.^(OLD 2012) In Cicero, Virgil and Pliny the Elder it meant the nettle tree, ''Celtis australis'', and in Ovid and Martial a pipe made of its wood.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Virgil and Pliny it meant various trefoils, and in Pliny a water lily with edible fruit, and ''lōtos Indica'' the clove tree.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It was borrowed into Italian as ''loto'', and [[en|lotus]] came in the 1540s for various plants, of the Egyptian white lotus from the 1580s.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the nettle tree.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a water lily.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1540s – English ''lotus'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The fabled lotus; the [[m|en|jujube]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # The [[m|en|nettle tree]]; a pipe of its wood.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A trefoil.^(OLD 2012)

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

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lōtaster]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|lotus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different noun ''lōtus, -ūs'', from [[lavō]], means a washing, bathing, as in Celsus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}