Etymologically
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anemone

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [a.nɛˈmoː.neː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [a.neˈmɔː.ne][1]

Forms

anemōnē f (genitive anemōnēs); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀνεμώνη (anemṓnē, “anemone”).[2][1] Etymonline derives the Greek from ἄνεμος (ánemos, “wind”), “daughter of the wind”, and also reports Klein's suggestion of a Hebrew source, while Köbler calls its further origin unclear.[3][4] Pliny says it was so named because the flower opens only when the wind blows.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Pliny the Elder, who distinguishes the garland anemones from the medicinal ones.[2][6] Köbler dates Pliny 23/24–79 AD and names Ovid as an earlier source.[4]

Semantic evolution

It named one or another species of anemone or windflower, and Pliny describes it as the flower of a wild bulb and adds that it grows most abundantly in the Alpine districts of warmer regions.[2][5][6] Georges connects the name instead with the ease with which the wind strips its petals, citing Ovid's Metamorphoses.[7] Pliny also applies the name to the plant othonna.[2]

In medieval Latin it was used of the wild poppy and of the garland windflower.[8][9] English anemone came from French and directly from Latin in the 1550s.[3]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid, according to Köbler, is its first source.[4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes several kinds.[2][4]
  • 1550s – English anemone is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An anemone, windflower.[2][1]
  2. The plant othonna.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The wild poppy.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ 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