glaeba

Latin

Alternative forms

• glēba

Etymology

Probably derived somehow from the Proto-Indo-European root *gel- (“form into a ball; ball”) and thereby cognate with globus, glomus, Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“mass, lump, clump; clasp”), Proto-West Germanic *klott (“clod”), Lithuanian glėbti (“to embrace, clasp”), and perhaps Serbo-Croatian glib (“mud”). However, the precise derivations of this form and its cognates are all uncertain. More information at globus.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlae̯.ba/, [ˈɡɫ̪äe̯bä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡle.ba/, [ˈɡlɛːbä]

Noun

glaeba f (genitive glaebae); first declension

1. clod (lump of earth)
2. land, soil
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.531:

     “terra antīqua, potēns armīs atque ūbere glaebae”

     “[Hesperia, i.e., Italy:] an ancient land, strong in war, and also rich with fertile soils.”

3. lump, mass of stuff

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	glaeba	glaebae
genitive	glaebae	glaebārum
dative	glaebae	glaebīs
accusative	glaebam	glaebās
ablative	glaebā	glaebīs
vocative	glaeba	glaebae

Derived terms

• glaebālis
• glaebārius
• glaebatim
• glaebātiō
• glaebōsus
• glaebula
• glaebulentus

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Neapolitan: glieva (medieval)
  • Old Italian: ghiova (influenced by glŏbus)
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Romagnol: ghieppa (influenced by toppa 'clod')
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: gleva
  • Old Occitan: gleva
    • Auvergnat: głẹyvo
    • Gascon: gléubo, glebo
    • Languedocien: glẹbo
    • Limousin: głevo
    • Vivaro-Alpine: gle̢yva
• Ibero-Romance
  • Aragonese: lleba (Ribagorçan)
  • Galician: leiba
  • Portuguese: leiva
• Sardinian:
  • Campidanese: lea
  • Logudorese: greva
  • Nuorese: cherba
• Vulgar Latin:
  • ⇒ *glebescula
    • Sardinian: liesca (Logudorese)
• Forms influenced by Oscan *glīfa:
  • Neapolitan: łiva (Cilento), ddźifa (Rivello), ddźẹfe (Lucania), tśéifə (Bari), ñifa (Lecce, prefixed with in-), ñofa (Salento, prefixed with -in and influenced by glŏbus)
  • Occitan:
    • Auvergnat: gliba, lhivo
    • Languedocien: libo
  • Piedmontese: dživa
  • Sicilian: łefa (Calabria)
• Borrowings:
  • → Dalmatian: glaiba
  • → English: glebe, gleba
  • → Italian: gleba
  • → Old French: glebe
    • French: glèbe
  • → Portuguese: gleba
  • → Spanish: gleba

References

• “glaeba”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “glaeba”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• glaeba in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “glēba”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 4: G H I, page 151
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “glēba”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 282