imbilium

Latin

Etymology

Unknown, see Usage Notes.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /imˈbi.li.um/, [ɪmˈbɪlʲiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /imˈbi.li.um/, [imˈbiːlium]

Noun

imbilium ?

1. (hapax) Possibly a light basket, or a basket for catching fish, or a weel for catching fish.
   • Cotton MS Cleopatra A.iii‎^[1], c. 930, archived from the original on 22 March 2022, page 84r, column 1: “leoht leap / Imbilium”

Usage notes

This word is a hapax legomenon attested in the problematic Second Cleopatra Glossary where it is glossed with the also hapax legomenon Old English leoht leap. William Somner conjectured imbilium may be a mistake for the New Latin impilia 'woollen socks,' or otherwise a dialectal synonym of excipulus, 'a weale; a snatch'.

Further reading

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “leáp”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[2], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• William Somner (1659) "Leoht-leap", in Dictionarium Saxonico-Latino-Anglicum^[2]