aesculus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈae̯s.kʊ.ɫʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛs.ku.lus]^[1]

Forms

aesculus f (genitive aesculī); second declension^[1] It is also spelled esculus.^[2]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[3][4][5] De Vaan finds the form and function of the suffix unclear if it is Indo-European, and considers a substrate word, perhaps Mediterranean, though a Germanic cognate would then be surprising.^[3][1] He and the OLD compare Ancient Greek αἰγίλωψ (aigílōps, “a kind of oak”) and Proto-Germanic *aik- (“oak”), as in Old Norse eik and English oak.^[3][2] Lewis and Short mention a link with edō “to eat”, as ⟨fāgus⟩ with Greek ⟨phageîn⟩, but the diphthong is a difficulty; the TLL rejects it, and mentions a derivation from aes “bronze” for the hardness of the wood.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first attestation is Varro, whom Köbler dates 116–27 BC, and Köbler's own first source is Virgil.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It was a kind of oak, perhaps the durmast or the Hungarian oak, which Lewis and Short call the tallest oak, with edible acorns.^[2][6] It was sacred to Jupiter, and appears in Virgil, Horace, Ovid and Pliny the Elder.^[7]

British Medieval Latin used it, uncertainly, for a kind of oak, the beech and perhaps the medlar.^[8] It survives in Italian eschio and eschia.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of an oak.^[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A kind of oak, perhaps the durmast or Hungarian oak.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) The beech.^[8]

Word family

• aesculētum
• aesculeus
• aesculinus
• aesculnius

Related words

• quercus
• English oak

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b 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