On 2006-04-09 01:15, alexandru_mg3 wrote:
> Any help regarding the etymology of Latin duras
You mean <du:rus>. The most widely accepted (if still somewhat
speculative) etymology derives it from *dru:ro- < *druh-ró-, from the
same root as Lith. drú:tas 'thick, strong'.
> And also of Latin lex
> (ex. Dura lex, sed lex)
<le:x> is a root noun from *leg^- 'collect, gather' (hence 'count, tell'
and eventually 'speak' in post-Homeric Greek, cf. <logos> 'computation,
account' --> 'speech, word'), Lat. lego preserves the old meaning, but
in <le:x> we have another semantic shift: 'collection' --> 'list of
regulations' --> '(the) law'.
Piotr