lacus

See also: lāčus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *lakus, from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (“lake, pool”). Cognate with Ancient Greek λάκκος (lákkos, “cistern, tank, pit”) and Old English lagu (“sea, ocean, flood”). More at lay.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.kus/, [ˈɫ̪äkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.kus/, [ˈläːkus]

Noun

lacus m (genitive lacūs); fourth declension

1. a lake, pond, basin; reservoir
2. a tank, tub, sink, vat, wine-vat
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.558:

     inque cavōs ierant tertia musta lacūs

     and three times had the must been poured into the hollow wine-vats
     (The Latin word lacus, meaning ‘‘hollow’’ or ‘‘lake’’, also described a container used in ancient winemaking. See also mustum and must.)

Declension

Fourth-declension noun (dative/ablative plural in -ubus).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	lacus	lacūs
Genitive	lacūs	lacuum
Dative	lacuī	lacubus
Accusative	lacum	lacūs
Ablative	lacū	lacubus
Vocative	lacus	lacūs

Hyponyms

• Lacūs Magnī

Derived terms

• laculātus
• lacūna
• lacusculus

Descendants

• Aragonese: laco
• Aromanian: lac
• Asturian: llagu
• Kabuverdianu: lagu
• Catalan: llac
• Dalmatian: lac
• Emilian: lèg
• Esperanto: lago
• Old French: lai
• →? Old French: lac
  • Middle French: lac
    • → Middle English: lac
    • French: lac
    • Norman: lac (Jersey)
• Friulian: lâc
• Galician: lago
• Italian: lago
• Ligurian: lâgo
• Maltese: lag
• Occitan: lac
• Papiamentu: lago
• Portuguese: lago
• Romanian: lac
• Romansch: lai
• Sardinian: lagu
• Sicilian: lacu
• Spanish: lago
• Venetian: łago

References

• “lacus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lacus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• lacus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• lacus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “lacus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “lacus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin