castoreum

Forms

castoreum n (genitive castoreī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The OLD takes it as borrowed from Ancient Greek καστόρειον (kastóreion), the Greek name of the substance,^[2][3] formed from κάστωρ (kástōr, “beaver”).^[4] Georges, VOLI and Wiktionary instead derive it within Latin from castor (“beaver”) with the suffix -eum.^[5][6][1] Beekes reports the view that the Greek name of the beaver is that of the hero Castor, transferred to the animal because castoreum was a remedy for women's diseases.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro has it first, in his Menippean satires.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

It was the strong-smelling secretion of the beaver's glands, used in medicine;^[9][2] Lucretius, Celsus and Scribonius Largus mention it,^[9][2] and Virgil has the plural, calling it rank-smelling.^[9][10] Pliny the Elder reports that beavers' testicles were called castorea.^[2] In the manuscripts it is often spelled castorium, and glossaries have castreum.^[8][11]

In medieval Latin it kept its medical use, and Bartholomaeus Anglicus repeats Pliny's account.^[3] The Lexicon Bohemorum records that some took it for a plant.^[12]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro mentions it in his Menippean satires.^[7][11]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius names it.^[9][11]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses the plural castorea.^[9][13][11]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus prescribes it.^[9][11]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes about it and about the beaver.^[9][2][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Castoreum, a strong-smelling substance from the glands of the beaver, used as a medicine.^[2][9]
2. (plural) The beaver's testicles, thought to contain it.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b 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
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. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
11. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
12. ^ Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
13. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.