libacunculus

Latin

Etymology

Diminutive from lībum (“pancake”) +‎ -unculus.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /liː.baːˈkun.ku.lus/, [lʲiːbäːˈkʊŋkʊɫ̪ʊs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /li.baˈkun.ku.lus/, [libäˈkuŋkulus]

Noun

lībācunculus m (genitive lībācunculī); second declension

(hapax) a type of small cake
- c. 160 CE – c. 225 CE, Tertullian, De spectaculis 27:
  Nemo venenum temperat felle et elleboro, sed conditis pulmentis et bene saporatis, et plurimum dulcibus id mali inicit. Ita et diabolus letale quod conficit rebus dei gratissimis et acceptissimis imbuit. Omnia illic seu fortia seu honesta seu sonora seu canora seu subtilia [perinde/proinde] habe ac [si] stillicidia mellis de libacunculo venenato nec tanti gulam facias voluptatis quanti periculum per suavitatem.
  1931 translation by T.R. Glover^[1]
  No one mixes poison with gall and hellebore; no, it is into delicacies well made, well flavoured, and, for the most part, sweet things, that he drops the venom. So does the devil; the deadly draught he brews, he flavours with the most agreeable, the most welcome gifts of God. So count all you find there—brave and honest, resounding, musical, exquisite—as so much honey dripping from a poisoned bit of pastry; and do not count your appetite for the pleasure worth the risk in the sweetness.

Usage notes

This word is a hapax legomenon that occurs only as the ablative singular form libacunculo in Tertullian's De spectaculis (and subsequent sources that quote or reference this passage). Alternative readings are "de lucunculo venenato" (with approximately the same meaning) and "de ranunculo venenato" "from a poisonous frog".^[2]^[3]

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	lībācunculus	lībācunculī
genitive	lībācunculī	lībācunculōrum
dative	lībācunculō	lībācunculīs
accusative	lībācunculum	lībācunculōs
ablative	lībācunculō	lībācunculīs
vocative	lībācuncule	lībācunculī

References

^ Tertullian. Apology. de Spectaculis. with an English Translation by T.R. Glover.
^ G. Currey (1854), Three Treatises of Tertullian, with English Notes, an Introduction, and Indexes, Edited for the Syndics of the University Press, pages 48-49
^ Georgius Ambianas (Georges d'Amiens) (1650), Tertullianus redivivus scholiis, observationibus, sermonibusque illustratus in quo utriusque iuris forma ad orginem suam recensetur, etc., page 688