noun · neutersecond declension
lībum
lībum n (genitive lībī)
Classical[ˈliː.bũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈliː.bum]
Meaning
- a cake or pancake, made of meal and milk or oil and spread with honey, such as was offered to the gods, especially on a birthday
lībum nātāle
birthday cake
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
placenta, pānis plānuslībum -ī (n) — in Aeneis, ch. 17
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | lībum lībus | lība |
| genitive | lībī | lībōrum |
| dative | lībō | lībīs |
| accusative | lībum | lība lībōs |
| ablative | lībō | lībīs |
| vocative | lībum lībe | lība |
lībum (lībus, m., Nigid. ap. Non. 211, 31), i, n. libo; cf. Varr. L. L. 4, 22,
I. a cake, pancake of meal, made with milk or oil, and spread with honey, Cato, R. R. 75:
rustica liba, Ov. F. 3, 670: adorea liba per herbam Subiciunt epulis, Verg. A. 7, 109; Ov. F. 3, 761: plena domus libis venalibus, Juv. 3, 187.—Often used in offerings to the gods: liba absoluta esse et rem divinam paratam, Varr. R. R. 2, 8, 1: suum Baccho dicemus honorem, ... et liba feremus, Verg. G. 2, 394; Tib. 1, 7, 54; 1, 10, 23; Hor. Ep. 1, 10, 10: melle pater (Bacchus) fruitur, liboque infusa calenti Jure repertori candida mella damus, Ov. F. 3, 761: haec te liba, Priape, quot annis Exspectare sat est, Verg. E. 7, 33. It was customary to offer a cake to the gods on one's birthday, Juv. 16, 38.— Hence, quinquagesima liba, a cake offered to the gods on one's fiftieth birthday, Mart. 10, 24, 4.—In masc.: faciat libos quatuor, Nigid. ap. Non. 211, 31.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
lībum ī, n
a cake, pancake (flour, made up with milk or oil, and baked): rustica liba, O.: adorea liba per herbam Subiciunt epulis, V.: liba venalia, Iu.: patulum, Iu.
Origins
Disputed. * According to De Vaan, from either Proto-Italic *leiβom or *loiβom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leybʰ-o-m or *h₂loybʰ-o-m respectively, from *h₂leybʰ- (“(anointing) grease”). If this theory were accepted, then the term would be cognate with Ancient Greek ἀλείφω (aleíphō, “to anoint”), ἄλειφᾰρ (áleiphăr, “unguent”). * The linguist Roman Garnier alternatively suggests that it is deverbal from lībō.