LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

lanx

lanx f (genitive lancis)
Classical[ˈɫaŋks]Ecclesiastical[ˈlaŋks]

Meaning

  1. femininedish, platter, plate
  2. femininescalepan

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

discus lībrae
lanx lancis (f) — in Aeneis, ch. 24

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativelanxlancēs
genitivelancislancum
dativelancīlancibus
accusativelancemlancēs
ablativelancelancibus
vocativelanxlancēs

lanx, lancis, f. cf. λέκος, λεκάνη,
I. a plate, platter, charger, dish (class.; cf.: patina, patella, magis, scutula).
I. In gen.: in lancibus, Plaut. Curc. 2, 3, 45: in filicatis lancibus, Cic. Att. 6, 1, 13: pomum de caelata sumere lance, Ov. P. 3, 5, 20: cumulantque oneratis lancibus aras, Verg. A. 8, 284: inter lances mensasque nitentes, Hor. S. 2, 2, 4: rotundae lances, id. ib. 2, 4, 41: qui furtum quaerere velit, nudus quaerat, linteo cinctus, lancem habens, etc., Gai. Inst. 3, 192 sqq.; cf. Paul. ex Fest. p. 116 Müll.; Gell. 11, 18, 9; 16, 10, 8: sic implet leves scutulas, cavasque lances, Mart. 11, 32, 18; Paul. Sent. 3, 6, 86: squilla distendat pectore lancem, Juv. 5, 80.—
II. In partic., the scale of a balance (cf.: libra, statera, trutina): necesse est lancem in libra ponderibus impositis deprimi, Cic. Ac. 2, 12, 38: Critolaus cum in alteram lancem animi bona imponat, in alteram corporis et externa, etc., id. Tusc. 5, 17, 51; cf. id. Fin. 5, 30, 91; cf.: Juppiter ipse duas aequato examine lances Sustinet, Verg. A. 12, 725: cum in altera lance Claudius et Nero starent, in altera, etc., Suet. Vesp. 25.—
B. Trop.: vitam aequa lance pensitare, to weigh or consider impartially, Plin. 7, 7, 5, § 44: aequa lance examinare, Ambros. Ep. 41, 22: paripendere lance cunctos, Arn. 6, 2: aequa lance servari, i. e. in like manner, Dig. 42, 1, 20.

Origins

Compare Ancient Greek λέκος (lékos, “dish, pan”), λεκάνη (lekánē, “basin, dish”) (whence English lecanomancy). Walde and Hoffmann, and Pokorny, suppose these words inherited from PIE and connected with words meaning "crooked", such as Latin licinus (“bent upward”), luxus (“dislocated”); the root Pokorny assigns is, in updated reconstruction, Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- (“to bend, to turn”). De Vaan objects on phonological and semantic grounds (plates are not crooked) and favours Ernout and Meillet's assumption that Greek and Latin instead share a Mediterranean cultural loanword from substrate languages.

Descendants
  • Italianlance

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesLanxLanx 1. A general term, including various forms of dishes different in shape and use, but, as far as can be gathered, a large dish. It should have bee…

Quick answers

What does lanx mean in Latin?
lanx, a noun, means “dish, platter, plate; scalepan”.
What is the genitive of lanx?
The genitive singular is lancis. lanx is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce lanx?
In classical Latin, [ˈɫaŋks]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈlaŋks].