Corsica

Forms

Corsica f sg (genitive Corsicae); first declension^[1] Priscian has the Greek-style variant Corsis (genitive Corsidis).^[2][3]

Etymology

The origin of the name is unknown.^[4][5] Wiktionary suggests that it may come from Ancient Ligurian or Etruscan.^[1] The Greeks called the island Ancient Greek Κύρνος (Kúrnos) and also Κορσίς (Korsís);^[2][3] Etymonline derives the Latin name from the latter.^[5] Ancient commentators, Servius and Isidore of Seville, explained the Greek name from Cyrnus, a son of Hercules.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The name already stands in the epitaph of Lucius Cornelius Scipio among the tombs of the Scipios, where Corsica is written for the accusative Corsicam.^[3][6] In literature the OLD's first citation is Cicero's De natura deorum.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

The name always denoted the island in the sea north of Sardinia, which with Sardinia formed a Roman province.^[6][7] It was known in antiquity for the honey and wax of its wild bees, and it was the place where the philosopher Seneca was banished.^[2][3] Pliny the Elder notes that the Greeks called it Cyrnos.^[6]

Priscian's version of the Periegesis has the Greek-style form Corsis,^[2][3] and Polemius Silvius spells it Cursica.^[6] The adjectives Corsus, Corsicus and Corsicānus were formed from it.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions Corsica in De natura deorum.^[7][4]
• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy records Roman campaigns on the island.^[6][4]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca writes of Corsica, his place of exile.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder notes that the Greeks called it Cyrnos.^[6][4]
• c. 448/449 AD – Polemius Silvius writes Cursica.^[6][4]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean north of Sardinia.^[7][2][9]
2. The Roman province that joined Corsica with Sardinia.^[6]

Word family

• Corsus
• Corsicus
• Corsicānus

Usage notes

Priscian notes that the i before c in words like Corsica and Crētica is short.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson