anthera

Forms

anthēra f (genitive anthērae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀνθηρά (anthērá),^[2][3][4] the feminine of ἀνθηρός (anthērós, “flowery, blooming”),^[5][6] which comes from ἄνθος (ánthos, “flower”).^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Celsus, recommending remedies for ulcers of the mouth, names the compositions that the Greeks call antherae.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a medicament made with flowers, used by Celsus for the mouth and gums and by Pliny the Elder in the plural.^[7][5][3] Medieval Latin kept the medical sense and also used the word for the anthers of the rose, called “rose seed”.^[8][4] New Latin gave it the botanical sense of the anther of a flower,^[1] which English adopted by 1791, after first borrowing the word in the 1550s for a medical extract of flowers.^[6]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus names the flower remedies the Greeks call antherae.^[7][9]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses the plural.^[5][9]
• 1550s – English borrows it as anther, for a medical extract of flowers.^[6]
• by 1791 – The botanical sense is attested in English.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ointment or medicament made with flowers.^[2][3][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) The anthers of the rose, “rose seed”.^[8][4]
3. (New Latin, botany) The anther of a flower.^[1]

Related words

• English anther

References

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