leuga

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

Said by Roman writers to be of Gaulish origin, from Proto-Celtic *lougā.[1] The Celtic origin is uncertain, since the diphthong -eu- is secondary and the word lacks clear Insular Celtic cognates.[2] There is a possible connection with Proto-Brythonic *llex (“stone”).[3]

Simon argues that the Celtic is a borrowing from Germanic, based on reconstructed Proto-West Germanic *leuwa and Gothic *𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰 (*liggwa);[4] however, these forms are unattested, purely conjectural, and are themselves not given any further etymological origin, which weakens the argument considerably.

Pronunciation

Noun

leuga f (genitive leugae); first declension

  1. A unit of length defined as 1+1⁄2 Roman miles

Declension

First-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative leuga leugae
genitive leugae leugārum
dative leugae leugīs
accusative leugam leugās
ablative leugā leugīs
vocative leuga leugae

Descendants

  • Italo-Romance:
    • Italian: lega
  • Gallo-Romance:
    • Catalan: llegua
    • Old French: liue (see there for further descendants)
  • Ibero-Romance:
  • Borrowings:

References

  1. ^ Isidorus, etymologiae sive origines, 15,16,1: "Mensuras viarum nos miliaria dicimus, Graeci stadia, Galli leugas, Aegypti schoenos, Persae parasangas."
  2. ^ Delamarre, Xavier (2003), Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental [Dictionary of the Gaulish language: A linguistic approach to Old Continental Celtic] (Collection des Hespérides; 9), 2nd edition, Éditions Errance, →ISBN
  3. ^ Columbus and the New World. (1998). Austria: P. Lang, p. 149
  4. ^ Simon, Zsolt (2019). “Zur Herkunft von leuga.” Acta Antiqua Hungarica 59: 425–433. DOI: 10.1556/068.2019.59.1–4.37
  • “leuga”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    “leuca (leuga)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “leuga”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    “leuca et leuga”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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