acinus

Forms

acinus m (genitive acinī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[2] It is generally regarded as a loanword from an unknown Mediterranean language,^[2][3] and the OLD and the TLL call it of unknown origin.^[4][5] De Vaan sees no reason to reject a derivation from the root meaning “sharp” of acus (“needle”) and acūtus (“sharp”), which he reconstructs as Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-u- (“pointed”), since the seeds of grapes are rather bitter.^[2] Wiktionary links the sharpness instead with the hard seed inside the grape.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cato,^[2][3] who uses it of the grapes or berries, in the neuter form acinum.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It names a small berry, above all the single grape of a bunch,^[4][6] and also the berries of ivy, elder, the medlar and the pomegranate in Pliny the Elder.^[7][6] By extension it was used of the pip or seed inside the berry.^[4][7] The gender wavers: masculine acinus and neuter acinum are both found, and occasionally a feminine acina.^[4][7][5]

In British Medieval Latin it still meant a berry or pip, and also malt wort;^[8] Old English glosses render it with words for the raspberry and other berries.^[8]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses the neuter acinum in his work on farming.^[4][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro also has the neuter form.^[4][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the masculine acinus, as the grammarian Nonius notes.^[5][3]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of the grape.^[7][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder applies it to the berries of ivy, elder and other plants.^[7][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A grape, or another small berry growing in clusters.^[4][7]
2. The pip or seed of a grape or berry.^[4][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Malt wort.^[8]

Word family

• acinarius
• acinaticius
• acinōsus
• deacinō
• dūracinus

Usage notes

Georges distinguishes it from baca, a berry that grows singly, while acinus is the berry of a cluster.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press