liberi Latin · revision 9661

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₁lewdʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''līberī''' ''m pl'' (genitive līberōrum); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Inscriptions have nominative and dative ''leibereis''.^(OLD 2012) The genitive is usually ''līberum'', but ''līberōrum'' is used from Ennius and Plautus on, and the singular is rare.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the plural of [[līber]] “free”, used as a noun.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The OLD notes that the development of the sense “children” is variously explained.^(OLD 2012) De Vaan follows Benveniste, who explains it from legal language, in which the legitimate children of a free couple were called “the free ones”.^(de Vaan 2008) ⟨līber⟩ goes back to [[itc-pro|*leuþero-]], from [[ine-pro|*h₁leudʰ-ero-]], originally “belonging to the people”, as in [[grc|ἐλεύθερος|tr=eleútheros|t=free]].^(de Vaan 2008) The dative plural [[xve|louderobos|t=for the children]] shows the same sense.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates the sense “children” from Plautus, and Ennius has the genitive ''līberōrum''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant sons and daughters, children, always in relation to their parents rather than by age, as in Cicero's ''līberōs prōcreāre'' “to beget children”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In law it included grandchildren and further descendants, as in Gaius and Ulpian, and Pliny the Younger and Suetonius mention the ''iūs trium līberōrum'' “right of three children”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In British Medieval Latin it meant sons and daughters, children, and in the singular a son, child.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of children.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero has ''līberōs prōcreāre''.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 223 AD – Ulpian includes grandchildren and further descendants.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Sons and daughters, [[m|en|children]] (in relation to their parents).^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(law)'' Children and further [[m|en|descendants]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[illiberis]]

+ * [[līberālis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[līber]]

+ * [[līberālitās]]

+ * [[līberāliter]]

+ * [[līberātiō]]

+ * [[līberātor]]

+ * [[līberē]]

+ * [[līberō]]

+ * [[līberta]]

+ * [[lībertās]]

+ * [[lībertīnus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}