Etymologically
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amethystus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [a.mɛˈtʰys.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [a.meˈtis.tus][1]

Forms

amethystus f (genitive amethystī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀμέθυστος (améthustos, “amethyst”).[2][1][3] The Greek word is the noun use of an adjective meaning “not intoxicating”, from ἀ- (a-, “not”) and μεθύσκω (methúskō, “to make drunk”).[4] Etymonline notes that the stone was believed to prevent drunkenness.[4] Pliny discusses the reasons for the name.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ovid, in the Art of Love, says that a certain colour imitates purple amethysts.[2] Köbler dates Ovid 43 BC–18 AD.[6]

Semantic evolution

It was the violet-blue precious stone, described at length by Pliny.[2][7] Georges notes that the ancient amethyst was cloudier and more spotted than the hyacinth, which is the modern amethyst.[5] Columella and Pliny use it of a vine that some Greeks called so because its wine did not make people drunk.[2][5]

The Vulgate has it in Exodus and in Revelation.[7] Medieval Latin used it allegorically and also of the bloodstone, with spellings such as amatistus.[8][9][4] English amethyst is recorded in the late 13th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid mentions purple amethysts.[2][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a vine.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the stone.[2][6]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate names it in Exodus and Revelation.[7][6]
  • late 13th century – English amethyst is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The amethyst, a violet-blue precious stone.[2][1]
  2. A kind of vine said to yield a wine that does not intoxicate.[2][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The bloodstone.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ 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