Etymologically
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Corsica

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkɔr.sɪ.ka][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkɔr.si.ka][1]

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

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