Words & WritingGreek → English
Laconic
/ləˈkɑːnɪk/adjective
Using very few words.
The Greek roots
Λακωνικός
Lakōnikós
of Laconia, Spartan
Literally: “in the Spartan manner”
Follow a root:Λακωνικός1 word
The story of the word
Laconia was Sparta's territory, and Spartan brevity was famous enough to turn a regional adjective into a style of speech. Plutarch preserves the standard example: Philip of Macedon sent word that if he entered Laconia he would raze it, and the Spartans wrote back a single word, 'If'. English has laconic from the 1580s.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 1580s
Same family
laconismLaconia
In a sentence
His reply was laconic even by his standards: two words and a full stop.