noun · neutersecond declension
lōtium
lōtium n (genitive lōtiī or lōtī)
Classical[ˈɫoː.ti.ũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈlɔt.t͡si.um]
Meaning
- urine, piss
Ad haec ille surrīdēns ‘At tū’ inquit ‘nōn sanguine sed lōtiō perfūsus es!’
Hearing this, he grinned and said, "But you didn't soak in blood, you soaked in piss!"c. 125 CE – 180 CE, Apuleius, Metamorphoses 1.18Vīnum concinnāre, sī lōtium difficilius transībit. capreidam vel jūnipirum contunditō in pīlā, lībram inditō, in duōbus congiīs vīnī veteris in vāse ahēneō vel in plumbeō dēfervēfacitō: ubi refrīxerit, in lagōnam inditō. id māne jeijūnus sūmitō cyathum: prōderit.
234 BCE – 149 BCE, Marcus Porcius Cato, De agri cultura 122
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | lōtium | lōtia |
| genitive | lōtiī lōtī | lōtiōrum |
| dative | lōtiō | lōtiīs |
| accusative | lōtium | lōtia |
| ablative | lōtiō | lōtiīs |
| vocative | lōtium | lōtia |
lōtĭum, ĭi, n.,
I. urine:
brassica alvum bonam facit lotiumque, Cato, R. R. 156; Suet. Vesp. 23.—Prov.: non valet lotium suum, of a good-for-nothing fellow, Petr. 57, 3.Origins
From lōtus, a variant form of the perfect passive participle of lavō (“to wash”) + -ium (“abstract noun suffix”), so called because urine was widely used as a washing and bleaching agent.