glacies

Latin

Alternative forms

glacia (late)

Etymology

Of uncertain origin.

Attested from Varro onwards. The ending is -iēs (noun-forming suffix), and the initial element is traditionally compared to gelū (“frost”),^[1]^[2] from Proto-Indo-European *gel-u-, from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to freeze”). Nevertheless, per De Vaan, there is no apparent way to derive glaciēs from the latter.^[3]^[4]

Lewis & Short proposed a connection with Ancient Greek γάλα (gála, “milk”), noting also the verb γλαγάω (glagáō, “to be milky”).^[5] The implication that glaciēs is related to lac (“milk”) is neither semantically nor phonologically convincing.

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

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɡɫa.ki.eːs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɡlaː.t͡ʃi.es]

Noun

glaciēs f (genitive glaciēī); fifth declension

ice
(figuratively) hardness

Declension

Fifth-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	glaciēs	glaciēs
genitive	glaciēī	glaciērum
dative	glaciēī	glaciēbus
accusative	glaciem	glaciēs
ablative	glaciē	glaciēbus
vocative	glaciēs	glaciēs

Derived terms

Descendants

Direct reflexes:

Ibero-Romance:
- Asturian: llaz
- Leonese: yaz

Reflexes of an assumed *glacium/-a (compare Late Latin glacia):

Balkano-Romance:
- Aromanian: gljets n, gljatsã f
- Istro-Romanian: gľåțĕ f
- Megleno-Romanian: gľets f
- Romanian: gheață f
Italo-Dalmatian:
- Dalmatian: glas m
- Istriot: giasso m
- Italian: ghiaccio m, ghiaccia f
  - → Sicilian: ghiacciu m
- Venetan: giaso m
Rhaeto-Romance:
- Friulian: glaç m, glace f
- Ladin: dlacia f
- Romansh: glatsch m
Gallo-Italic:
- Emilian: giazz m, giâz m
- Ligurian: giàsso, giàssa
- Old Lombard: giaçça
  - Lombard: giass m
- Piedmontese: giassa f
Gallo-Romance:
- Catalan: glaç m, glaça f
- Franco-Provençal: gllace f
- Occitan: glaç m, glaça f
- Old French: glace f (see there for further descendants)
Ibero-Romance:
- Galician: lazo m
⇒ Vulgar Latin: *glaciārium (see there for further descendants)

References

^ Weiss, Michael L. (2009), Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin‎^[1], Ann Arbor: Beech Stave Press, →ISBN, § V, page 323
^ Ernout, Alfred; Meillet, Antoine (1985), “glacies”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 275
^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “glaciēs”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 263
^ Weiss, Michael L. (2009), Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin‎^[2], Ann Arbor: Beech Stave Press, →ISBN, § V, page 323
^ “glacies”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press