lepos

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

From *lep- +‎ -ōs (suffix forming abstract nouns), related to the suffixed adjective lepidus (“pleasant, charming”). The origin of the root is unknown. Based purely on form, it has been compared with Ancient Greek λεπτός (leptós) and λέπω (lépō, “to peel”), but because of the different meanings, this connection is uncertain and rejected by Ernout and Meillet 1985.[1] De Vaan 2008 is skeptical, but suggests a change from "what has been peeled" to "refinement" is thinkable.[2]

Pronunciation

Noun

lepōs m (genitive lepōris); third declension

  1. pleasantness, charm, attractiveness, agreeableness
  2. politeness, grace
  3. pleasantry, wit, humor
  4. (term of endearment) delight

Declension

Third-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative lepōs lepōrēs
genitive lepōris lepōrum
dative lepōrī lepōribus
accusative lepōrem lepōrēs
ablative lepōre lepōribus
vocative lepōs lepōrēs

References

  1. ^ Ernout, Alfred; Meillet, Antoine (1985), “lepos”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 352
  2. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “lepōs”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 335

Further reading

  • “lepos”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “lepos”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “lepos”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • humour: lepos in iocando
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