Latin

Noun

libellus m ‎(genitive libellī); second declension

1. a little book, pamphlet
   • Martial, Epigrams 7.3

     Cūr nōn mitto meōs tibi, Pontiliāne, libellōs?
     nē mihi tū mittās, Pontiliāne, tuōs.

     Why do I not send my little books [of poetry] to you, Pontilianus?
     So that you, Pontilianus, don't send yours to me.

2. a billet, leaflet
3. a petition
   • Dictum est autem: Quicumque dimiserit uxorem suam, det ei libellum repudii.

     And it has been said: 'Whoever would dismiss his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce'. Vulgate, Mt 5, 31

Inflection

Second declension.

Related terms

• liber
• librāriolus
• librārius

Descendants

• French: libelle
• Spanish: libelo
• Portuguese: libelo

References

• libellus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• libellus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• LIBELLUS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “libellus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• libellus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• libellus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin