Etymograph

English

lacuna

Lacuna comes from Latin lacūna ‘a ditch, pit’, from lacus ‘lake, pond’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lókus.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lókusreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lakus‘lake’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElacus‘lake, pond’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CE*lacūnusreconstructed
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElacūna‘a ditch, pit’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1912lacuna

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lókusreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lakus‘lake’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElacus‘lake, pond’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CE*lacūnusreconstructed
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElacūna‘a ditch, pit’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1912lacuna

Earliest quotation: 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […]: “Our young friend makes up for many obvious mental…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lókus

loch, lough, 6 more

through Latin lacus ‘lake, pond’

lacustrine, 4 more

through Latin lacūna ‘a ditch, pit’

lagoon, 6 more

Today it means

noun A small opening; a small pit or depression, especially in bone.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lókus / lacuna

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