Etymologically
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carex

Etymology and origin of the Latin word carex

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Confidence
Unknown
First attested
Virgil

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkaː.rɛks][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.reks][1]

Forms

cārex f (genitive cāricis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It has no clear etymology.[2][3] Muller suggested a link with cārō “to card wool”, and the suffix -ex, -icis is found in many tree and plant names, many of them without etymology.[2][1] Wiktionary compares Welsh cors (“reeds, bog”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Virgil, who speaks of a bull fed on sharp sedge.[2][4][5] Köbler dates Virgil 70–19 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant reed grass, rush or sedge, as in Virgil, Columella and Palladius, also with the nominative cārix.[6][4][2] Isidore of Seville describes it as a sharp, very hard plant like esparto.[5]

In Medieval Latin it was sedge.[7] It survives in Spanish carrizo and Italian carice, and is the botanical name of the sedges.[1]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of sharp sedge.[4][3]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it.[4][3]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville describes it.[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Reed grass, sedge, rush.[6][4]

Word family

  • cārectum
  • English carex

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Carex.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/carex. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·