lactuca

See also: Lactuca

Latin

Etymology

From lac (milk) +‎ -ūcus (suffix common to several plant names),[1] in reference to the milky white substance (latex) exuded by cut lettuce stems.

Pronunciation

Noun

lactūca f (genitive lactūcae); first declension

  1. lettuce (Lactuca sativa), wolf's milk (Lactuca maritima), and other Lactuca species

Declension

First-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative lactūca lactūcae
genitive lactūcae lactūcārum
dative lactūcae lactūcīs
accusative lactūcam lactūcās
ablative lactūcā lactūcīs
vocative lactūca lactūcae

Descendants

  • Balkan Romance:
    • Aromanian: lãptucã
    • Romanian: lăptucă (with lapatica from lapathum and lappa)
  • Dalmatian:
    • -
      • Proto-Slavic: *loťika (see there for further descendants)
  • Italo-Romance:
  • Padanian:
    • Emilian: laciuga
    • Friulian: latuie
    • Ligurian: leitûga
    • Lombard: laciuga
    • Piedmontese: laitùa
  • Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Southern Gallo-Romance:
    • Catalan: lletuga, lletruga, lletua
      Septentrional: lleituga
    • Occitan:
      Auvergnat: laituja
      Gascon: lèituga
      Languedocien: laituga, lachuga
      Limousin: laituja
      Provençal: lachuga
      Vivaro-Alpine: lachua
  • Ibero-Romance:
  • Insular Romance:
    • Sardinian: lattuca, làtua, làtia, latuca
  • Borrowings:
    • Proto-West Germanic: *lahtukā (see there for further descendants)

References

  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “lac, -tis (> Derivatives > lactūca 'lettuce')”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 320

Further reading

  • lactuca”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • lactuca”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • lactuca in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • lactuca”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray