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:''This page is about the Latin praenomen. For other uses and a list of individuals with this name, see Lucius, and also Lucius (disambiguation).'' Lucius (; ) is a Latin ''praenomen'', or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is ''Lucia'' ( or ; ). The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic ''gentes Lucia'' and ', as well as the ''cognomen'' ''Lucullus''. It was regularly abbreviated L.〔''Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology''〕 Throughout Roman history, Lucius was the most common praenomen, used slightly more than ''Gaius'' and somewhat more than ''Marcus''. Although a number of prominent families rarely or never used it, it was amongst the most frequently given names in countless others. The name survived the collapse of the Western Empire in the 5th century, and has continued into modern times.〔〔''Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft''〕 ==Origin and meaning of the name== In ''De Praenominibus'' (''Concerning Praenomina''), Julius Paris asserts that Lucius is derived from ''lux'', ''light'', and that the name was originally given to children who were born at dawn. This meaning alone would not be enough to account for the frequency with which the name was used, but as with all praenomina, parents were free to choose the name which most appealed to them, and once a praenomen became regularly used in any family, it tended to be passed down from one generation to the next, by the strength of tradition.〔''De Praenombinibus'' (epitome by Julius Paris)〕〔William Smith, ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities''〕 Chase connects the name with the archaic adjective ''loucus'', which meant ''bright'' or ''shining'', although by the classical period it had come to refer to a cleared grove. He points out the Greek cognate, ''leukos'', from which the personal name ''Lucas'' or ''Luke'' is derived.〔George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897)〕 The Etruscan form of this praenomen is ''Lucie''.〔Jacques Heurgon, ''Daily Life of the Etruscans'' (1964)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lucius (praenomen)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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