amygdala

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [aˈmyɡ.da.ɫa]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈmiɡ.da.la]^[1]

Forms

amygdala f (genitive amygdalae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē, “almond”), a word of unknown origin.^[2][1][3][4] The Appendix Probi prescribes ⟨amycdala⟩, not ⟨amiddula⟩.^[5] A form ⟨amygdalē⟩ is also found.^[2] Isidore says the Greek name means a long nut in Latin.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short's earliest example is from Cato, of the almond.^[7] Köbler's first source is Pliny the Elder; he dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant an almond, as in Cato, Columella and Pliny the Elder, and in Columella and Pliny the almond tree, amygdala amāra the bitter almond.^[2][7][8]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant an almond.^[9] British Medieval Latin also used it figuratively, after Ecclesiastes.^[10] A Vulgar Latin *amandula from it gave French amande and Spanish almendra, and Old French almande gave English almond about 1300.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of almonds.^[7][3]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of the almond tree.^[2][3]
• c. 1300 – English almond is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An almond.^[2]
2. The almond tree, amygdala amāra, the bitter almond.^[2]

Related words

• English almond
• English amygdala

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon 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
10. ^ 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