carpinus

Forms

carpinus f (genitive carpinī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *karp-i/eno-, of uncertain origin.^[2] De Vaan compares, with some doubt, Hittite karpina- (“a kind of fruit tree”) and the Baltic tree names Old Prussian skerptus and Lithuanian skir̃pstas (“elm”), Lithuanian skirpstùs (“beech”);^[2][3][4] since these trees have serrated leaves, they may come from a root meaning “to cut”, and then ⟨carpinus⟩ could be made directly from carpō.^[2] Köbler connects it with Proto-Indo-European *skerp- (“to cut”),^[5] while Wiktionary calls it unknown and reports the traditional link with Proto-Indo-European *kar- (“hard”), whose extension and suffix are hard to explain.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato is its first author: he advises making the press beam of an olive press above all from carpinus ātra.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the hornbeam, Carpinus betulus.^[3][4] Vitruvius praises its timber as not brittle and easy to work, and says the Greeks call it zygia;^[4] Pliny the Elder adds that it loves the mountains and grows in Italy beyond the Po.^[4] Lewis & Short take Cato's carpinus ātra for the hop hornbeam.^[6] The name lives on in Italian carpino and French charme.^[4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato wants the press beam of an olive press made of it.^[4][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius praises its timber.^[4][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella says that many farmers plant it among the trees that support vines.^[4][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes where it grows.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The hornbeam, Carpinus betulus.^[3][6][1]
2. carpinus ātra a dark kind, perhaps the hop hornbeam.^[6][4]

Word family

• carpīneus

Related words

• carpō

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press