cartilago

Forms

cartilāgō f (genitive cartilāginis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] The OLD compares it, with a “perhaps”, to crātis (“wickerwork”).^[2] Wiktionary suggests it is perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kert- (“to weave, twist together”), the source also of that word and of Ancient Greek κροτώνη (krotṓnē, “excrescence on a tree”);^[1] Köbler gives the same root with a question mark.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Celsus is the first to use it, for cartilage or gristle, which he lists beside bone, sinew and muscle among parts that can be injured.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Besides gristle in animals and people, Pliny the Elder applied it to plants, for a tough fleshy substance in fruits, harder than pulp but softer than wood.^[2][5] Its derivatives cartilāgineus and cartilāginōsus were formed for things made of or full of cartilage.^[1] English took it over as cartilage, from Old French and directly from Latin.^[3]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it for cartilage.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a tough substance in fruits.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as cartilage.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) Cartilage, gristle.^[2][5]
2. (botany) A tough, fleshy substance in plants or fruits, harder than pulp but softer than wood.^[2][5]

Word family

• cartilāgineus
• cartilāginōsus

Related words

• English cartilage

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. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press