libellus
Latin
Etymology
Diminutive from liber (“book”) + -lus.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /liˈbel.lus/, [lʲɪˈbɛlːʲʊs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /liˈbel.lus/, [liˈbɛlːus]
Noun
libellus m (genitive libellī); second declension
- a little book, booklet, pamphlet
- 38 CE – 104 CE, Martial, Epigrams 7.3:
- Cūr nōn mitto meōs tibi, Pontiliāne, libellōs?
nē mihi tū mittās, Pontiliāne, tuōs.- Why do I not send my little books [of poetry] to you, Pontilianus?
So that you, Pontilianus, don't send yours to me.
- Why do I not send my little books [of poetry] to you, Pontilianus?
- Cūr nōn mitto meōs tibi, Pontiliāne, libellōs?
- a billet, leaflet, handbill
- a petition
- Dictum est autem: Quicumque dimiserit uxorem suam, det ei libellum repudii. :
- And it has been said: 'Whoever would dismiss his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce'. Vulgate, Mt 5, 31
Declension
Second-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | libellus | libellī |
| Genitive | libellī | libellōrum |
| Dative | libellō | libellīs |
| Accusative | libellum | libellōs |
| Ablative | libellō | libellīs |
| Vocative | libelle | libellī |
Synonyms
- liberculus
Related terms
- liber
- librāriolus
- librārius
Descendants
- → Ancient Greek: λίβελλος (líbellos)
- → Catalan: libel
- → English: libel
- → French: libelle
- → Galician: libelo
- → Italian: libello
- → Occitan: libèl
- → Portuguese: libelo
- → Spanish: libelo
References
- “libellus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “libellus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- libellus 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)
- libellus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- “libellus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “libellus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin