bombyx

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈbɔm.byːks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbɔm.biks]^[1]

Forms

bombȳx m (genitive bombȳcis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βόμβυξ (bómbux, “silkworm”).^[2][1][3] Köbler calls the Greek word a loan from the East, and Wiktionary compares Middle Persian pmbk'.^[4][1] Isidore says the silkworm is so named because it empties itself while it spins its thread, so that only air remains in it.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Propertius, of silk.^[2] Köbler's first source is Pliny the Elder; he dates Propertius 57/46–12 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Propertius it meant silk, a silk garment.^[2][6] In Pliny the Elder it meant the silk moth or silkworm, which Pliny also treats as feminine, and a silky fibre, the down of seeds.^[2][7][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a silkworm, silk, cotton, wadding.^[8] Medieval Latin used it for cotton, through an error going back to Pliny, who ascribed cotton to an insect like the silkworm.^[9] English bombyx “silkworm” came in the late 14th century, and Late Latin bombax “cotton”, a corruption of it, gave English bombast.^[3]

Timeline

• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of silk.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the silkworm.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English bombyx is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The silk moth, silkworm.^[2]
2. Silk; a silky fibre.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) Cotton.^[9]

Word family

• bombȳcinus

Related words

• English bombyx
• English bombast

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill