adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective
laevus1
laevus (feminine laeva, neuter laevum)
Classical[ˈɫae̯.wʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈlɛː.vus]
Mille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- adjectiveleft; on the left side
et inde tot per impotentia freta erum tulisse (laeva sīve dextera vocāret aura, sīve utrumque Iuppiter simul secundus incidisset in pedem)
and thence through so many unruly seas it carried its master, whether a left or a right breeze would call, or a favorable wind (Jupiter) fell on each sheet at the same timec. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 4 - adjectivefigurativelyclumsy, awkward
- adjectivefigurativelyfoolish
- adjectiveunlucky
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
sinister; manus laeva.laevus -a -um — in Mille Verba, Corpus Hūmānum
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Sinister · Lævus
Sinister (old Germ. winistra) denotes the left, as a usual and prosaic expression, like ἀριστερός; lævus (λαιός) as a select and poetical expression, like σκαιός. In a figurative sense sinister is the symbol of unpropitiousness and of disaster; lævus, of perverseness and of awkwardness. (vi. 336.)
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | laevus levus | laeva leva | laevum levum |
| genitive | laevī levī | laevae levae | laevī levī |
| dative | laevō levō | laevae levae | laevō levō |
| accusative | laevum levum | laevam levam | laevum levum |
| ablative | laevō levō | laevā levā | laevō levō |
| vocative | laeve leve | laeva leva | laevum levum |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | laevī levī | laevae levae | laeva leva |
| genitive | laevōrum levōrum | laevārum levārum | laevōrum levōrum |
| dative | laevīs levīs | laevīs levīs | laevīs levīs |
| accusative | laevōs levōs | laevās levās | laeva leva |
| ablative | laevīs levīs | laevīs levīs | laevīs levīs |
| vocative | laevī levī | laevae levae | laeva leva |
laevus, a, um, adj. cf. Gr. λαιός,
I. left, on the left side (mostly poet.; syn.: sinister, scaevus).
I. Lit.: ut idem nunc sit laevus;
et e laevo sit mutua dexter, Lucr. 4, 301 (325): manus, Cic. Ac. 2, 47, 145: ab laeva manu, Plaut. Aul. 4, 3, 1: habeo equidem hercle oculum. Py. At laevom dico, Plaut. Mil. 4, 7, 24: latus, Ov. M. 12, 415: auris id. ib. 12, 336: pes, id. ib. 12, 101: umerus, id. H. 9, 62: Pontus, lying to the left, id. P. 4, 9, 119: iter, Verg. A. 5, 170: habena, Hor. Ep. 1, 15, 12: amnis, the left bank, Tac. A. 2, 8: laevā in parte mamillae, Juv. 7, 159. —B. Subst.
1. laeva, ae, f.
(a). (Sc. manus.) The left hand:
opsecro te hanc per dexteram, perque hanc sororem laevam, Plaut. Poen. 3, 1, 9: Ilionea petit dextrā, laevāque Serestum, Verg. A. 1, 611; id. ib. 2, 552; 7, 188: cognovi clipeum laevae gestamina nostrae, Ov. M. 15, 163; id. ib. 4, 782; 8, 321: hinc factum est ut usus anulorum exemtus dexterae, in laevam relegaretur, Macr. S. 7, 13, 11; so, dextera laevaque, Juv. 6, 561; 658.—(b). (Sc. pars.) The left side:
laevam cuncta cohors remis ventisque petivit, Verg. A. 3, 563: laevam pete, go to the left, Ov. M. 3, 642.—Esp. freq. adv.: laevā, on the left side, on the left: dextrā montibus, laevā Tiberi amne saeptus, on the left, Liv. 4, 32: dextrā laevāque duo maria claudunt, id. 21, 43: so, a laevā: Diana facem jacit a laeva, Enn. ap. Cic. Ac. 2, 28, 89 (Trag. Rel. v. 55 Vahl.); Vulg. Exod. 14, 22.—So, ad laevam, in laevam, to the left, on the left: ante, et pone; ad laevam, et ad dexteram, Cic. Univ. 13: si in laevam detorserit, Plin. 28, 8, 27, § 93.—2. In neutr.: laevum, on the left (poet.):
intonuit laevum, Verg. A. 2, 693; 9, 631: laevum extendere comas, Juv. 6, 495: in laevum, adverbially, to the left: fleximus in laevum cursus, Ov. Tr. 1, 10, 17: dixit in laevum conversus, Juv. 4, 120 (Jahn, in laevam).— Plur.: laeva, ōrum, n., places lying on the left: laeva tenent Thetis et Melite, Verg. A. 5, 825: Thracen et laeva Propontidos intrat, Ov. F. 5, 257.—II. Trop.
A. Awkward, stupid, foolish, silly:
si mens non laeva fuisset, Verg. E. 1, 16; id. A. 2, 54: o ego laevus, Qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam, Hor. A. P. 301.— B. Of ill omen, unfavorable, inconvenient; unfortunate, unlucky, bad, pernicious:
Sirius laevo contristat lumine caelum, Verg. A. 10, 275: peccatum fateor, cum te sic tempore laevo Interpellarim, Hor. S. 2, 4, 4: teque nec laevus vetat ire picus, id. C. 3, 27, 15: laevo monitu pueros producit avaros, Juv. 14, 228: omen, Val. Fl. 6, 70: ignis, i. e. a pestilence, Stat. Th. 1, 634; Claud. Idyll. 2, 92; Sil. 1, 464 Rupert; so, numina laeva (opp. dextra or propitia), unfavorable gods, hostile deities, Verg. G. 4, 7 Jahn and Forbig. ad loc.: impia Cappadocum tellus et numine laevo Visa tibi, Mart. 6, 85, 3; Sil. 14, 494; 15, 512; Arn. adv. Gent. 3, 26.—C. In the language of augurs, fortunate, lucky, propitious (because the Romans, by turning their faces to the south, had the eastern signs on their left hand;
v. sinister): laeva prospera existimantur, quoniam laevā parte mundi ortus est, Plin. 2, 54, 55, § 142; cf. Liv. 1, 18: omina, Phaedr. 3, 18, 12: tonitru dedit omina laevo Juppiter, Ov. F. 4, 833; cf. Verg. A. 2, 693; 9, 631 (I. B. 2 supra).—Hence, adv.: laevē, awkwardly, wrongly (poet.), Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 52.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
laevus adj.
, λαιός, left, on the left side: manus: auris, O.: Pontus, to the left, O.: iter, V.: habena, H.: laevā parte, on the left, O.—As subst. n the left: fleximus in laevum cursūs, O.: In laevum conversus, Iu.: in laeva Italiae flexit iter, L.: Laeva tenent Thetis et Melite, the left, V.— Neut. As adv., on the left: Intonuit laevum, i. e. propitiously, V.: laevum extendere comas, Iu.— Fig., awkward, stupid, foolish, silly: mens, V.: o ego laevus, H.—Of ill omen, unfavorable, inconvenient, unfortunate, unlucky, bad, pernicious: Sirius laevo contristat lumine caelum, V.: Teque nec laevus vetat ire picus, H.: Numina, unfavorable gods, hostile deities, V.—In the language of augurs, fortunate, lucky, propitious (because the augur faced the south, and the east or propitious side was on the left; see sinister): omina: tonitru, O.
Origins
From Proto-Indo-European *leh₂iwos (“left (side)”). Schrijver reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *lh₂eywo- on account of the accentuation of Serbo-Croatian леви (lȇvī, “left”), though De Vaan alternatively considers the aforementioned *leh₂iwos both possible and supported by the Greek and Tocharian evidence. Cognates include Ancient Greek λαιός (laiós, “left, awkward”), Old Church Slavonic лѣвъ (lěvŭ, “left”), and Tocharian B laiwo (“lassitude”).
Descendants
- Englishlevo-
- Englishlevulosefrom English levo-
- Italianlevo
- Etruscan𐌋𐌀𐌉𐌅𐌄