lutum

Latin

Etymology 1

From Proto-Indo-European *lew- (“dirt, mud”). Cognate with Old Irish loth (“mud”), Ancient Greek λῦμα (lûma, “dirt, filth”), Albanian lym (“mud”), Lithuanian liutýnas (“loam pit”).

Alternative forms

• lutus

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫʊ.tũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈluː.tum]

Noun

lutum n (genitive lutī); second declension

1. soil, dirt, mire, mud

   Synonyms: caenum, sordēs

2. loam, clay

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	lutum	luta
genitive	lutī	lutōrum
dative	lutō	lutīs
accusative	lutum	luta
ablative	lutō	lutīs
vocative	lutum	luta

Derived terms

• lustrum
• lutāmentum
• lutārius
• Lutātius
• lutēnsis
• lutēscō
• luteus
• lutitō
• lutō
• lutōsus
• lutulentus

Descendants

• Aromanian: lut
• Asturian: llodu
• Catalan: llot
• → French: lut
• Galician: lodo
• Italian: loto (obsolete); → luto
• Neapolitan: lóta (“dirt, a curseword”)
• Occitan: lut
• Portuguese: lodo
• Romanian: lut
• Sardinian: ludu, lutu, luru, ludru
• Spanish: lodo
  • → Sardinian: lodu

Etymology 2

Unknown. Maybe from Old Latin clūtum (/⁠glūtum^?⁠/), from an extended form of Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green, yellow”) (compare Latin fel, helvus, holus), but the required suffixation of the root would be unusual. More likely from a substrate source along the lines of *(w)lut- related to the source of Proto-West Germanic *waldu (“dyer's weed”) (< *wolt-).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫuː.tũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈluː.tum]

Noun

lūtum n (genitive lūtī); second declension

1. The plant Reseda luteola used in dyeing yellow; weld, dyer's weed.
2. The yellow coloring matter or dye extracted from this plant.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	lūtum	lūta
genitive	lūtī	lūtōrum
dative	lūtō	lūtīs
accusative	lūtum	lūta
ablative	lūtō	lūtīs
vocative	lūtum	lūta

Derived terms

• lūteolus
• lūteum
• lūteus

References

• “lutum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lutum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "lutum", 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)
• “lutum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.