calyx

Forms

calyx m (genitive calycis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κάλυξ (kálux, “cup or calyx of a flower, husk, shell”).^[2][3][1][4] Lewis and Short and Etymonline connect the Greek word with καλύπτω (kalúptō, “to cover”);^[3][5] Beekes, however, finds that both its root and its suffix look Pre-Greek.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder (c. 23–79 AD) uses it for the cup of a flower, such as the rose, the lily and the poppy.^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Pliny extends it to other coverings: the cupule of a nut, the skin of a pomegranate, the shell of a sea urchin, and the clay crust laid over a pile of wood in charcoal-burning; he also gives it as the name of two plants.^[2] Wiktionary adds the senses of an eggshell and a fitting of a Roman water pipe.^[1] English took the word as a botanical term in the 1680s.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 23–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for the cup of a flower and other coverings.^[2][3][7]
• 1680s – English borrows it as calyx.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The bud or cup of a flower, the calyx.^[3][6]
2. The cupule of a nut; the pericarp of a chestnut.^[2]
3. The skin of a pomegranate.^[2]
4. The shell of a sea urchin.^[2][6]
5. The covering of clay laid over a heap of wood in charcoal-burning.^[2]
6. The name of two plants, one like the arum and one the same as anchūsa.^[2][3]
7. An eggshell; a fitting of a Roman water pipe.^[1]

Word family

• calyculus

Related words

• calix
• English calyx

Usage notes

The OLD notes that the word is often confused with calix “cup”, and the TLL that manuscripts have both -yx and -ix.^[2][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften