alica

Forms

alica f (genitive alicae); first declension^[1] The spelling halica is also found.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄλιξ (álix, “groats of rice-wheat”),^[1][2] a word of unknown origin with almost the same form and meaning.^[4] De Vaan allows that both may instead be loanwords from another Mediterranean language.^[4] The TLL calls the origin uncertain.^[5] In Paul the Deacon's epitome of Festus it is derived from alō (“to nourish”), because it nourishes the body.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cato's book on farming, where cheese is to be mixed with alica in a recipe;^[4][2][7] for him it is emmer groats.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is the groats of emmer or spelt, and the porridge, gruel or drink made from them;^[2][3][8] Celsus, Pliny the Elder and Seneca use it so.^[2][3][8] In one poem of Martial it seems to stand for hallēc, a fish sauce.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in a recipe.^[2][7]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus prescribes a drink of alica.^[3][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the grain and its porridge.^[2][7]
• 40–102 AD – Martial plays on it and alicula, a cloak.^[3][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Groats of emmer or spelt.^[2][6]
2. A porridge, gruel or drink made from these groats.^[2][6][3]
3. Perhaps a fish sauce, hallēc.^[2][8]

Word family

• alicacius
• alicārius
• alicastrum

Usage notes

Martial puns on it: a friend who sent him an alicula (a short cloak) when poor now, being rich, sends him alica.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier