Etymology 1
From Old Latin labōs, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *leb- (“to seize, take”), whence Sanskrit लभते (labhate, “take, gain”) and Lithuanian lõbis (“wealth”). More commonly connected with labō (“I totter”)[1] (see Etymology 2 below), but this is rejected by de Vaan, who however provides no alternative.[2] The semantic connection is weak in either case.
Prósper (2019, 27 (483)) suggests a possible root *dh̥₂bʰ-ōs, cognate with Lithuanian dobti (“to strike, beat, kill, (dial.) torment, exhaust”). See source for more.
Noun
labor m (genitive labōris); third declension
- work
- labor, toil, exertion
- Synonyms: cōnātus, studium, opus, opera, cūra, mōlīmen, intēnsiō, mōlēs, pulvis
8 CE,
Ovid,
Fasti 4.641–642:
- rege Numa, frūctū nōn respondente labōrī,
inrita dēceptī vōta colentīs erant- When Numa was king, the produce not responding to the labor,
prayers were ineffective, the farmer deceived
- (chiefly poetic) hardship, trouble, fatigue, suffering, drudgery, distress
8 CE,
Ovid,
Fasti 6.384–385:
- et mediae tempora noctis erant, iam ducibus somnum dederat labor
- It was midnight, and by now their fatigue had given the leaders sleep.
- illness
- Synonyms: aegritūdō, morbus, malum, pestis, incommodum, valētūdō, infirmitas
- Antonyms: salūs, valētūdō
- the pain accompanying childbirth, labor
Etymology 2
Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b- (“to hang loosely, be weak”), and cognate with labō, English sleep, Proto-Slavic *slàbъ (“weak”).[3]
Verb
lābor (present infinitive lābī, perfect active lāpsus sum); third conjugation, deponent
- to slip, slide, glide
- to fall, sink down
- to slip, stumble
- to vanish, pass away, elapse, escape
- Synonyms: fugiō, effugiō, ēvādō, refugiō, cōnfugiō, diffugiō, aufugiō, prōfugiō, āvolō, ēripiō, ēlābor
8 CE,
Ovid,
Fasti 6.771–772:
- Tempora lābuntur, tacitīsque senēscimus annīs,
et fugiunt frēnō nōn remorante diēs.- Times pass away, and with years unnoticed we grow old, and days flee with no bridle holding [them] back.
- to be mistaken, be wrong, err, commit a fault
- Synonyms: dēlinquō, errō, committō, offendō
Conjugation
This verb takes the future passive participle lābundus instead of *lābendus.
More information Conjugation of lābor (third conjugation, deponent), indicative ...
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References
- “labor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “labor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- labor 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)
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to exert oneself very energetically in a matter: multum operae ac laboris consumere in aliqua re
- the matter involves much labour and fatigue: res est multi laboris et sudoris
- to spare no pains: labori, operae non parcere
- not to leave off work for an instant: nullum tempus a labore intermittere
- to spare oneself the trouble of the voyage: labore supersedēre (itineris) (Fam. 4. 2. 4)
- capable of exertion: patiens laboris
- lazy: fugiens laboris
- to take a false step: per errorem labi, or simply labi
- to make a slip of the memory: memoriā labi
- to make a mistake in writing: labi in scribendo
- immorality is daily gaining ground: mores in dies magis labuntur (also with ad, e.g. ad mollitiem)
- (ambiguous) to drain the cup of sorrow: omnes labores exanclare
- (ambiguous) rest after toil is sweet: acti labores iucundi (proverb.)
- labor in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
References
Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN
De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “labor”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 320
De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 319-20