Etymologically
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cedrus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkɛ.drʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈt͡ʃɛː.drus][1]

Forms

cedrus f (genitive cedrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κέδρος (kédros, “cedar, juniper”),[2][3][1] a Greek word of uncertain origin;[4] Köbler compares a root Proto-Indo-European *ked- (“to smoke”).[5] The TLL and Wiktionary compare citrus.[6][1] Isidore explained the Greek name as the moisture of a burning tree.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Sallust,[5] who describes naphtha as a kind of oil like cedar oil.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the cedar or juniper, a tree with fragrant wood whose oil protects from decay;[2][3] Pliny the Elder distinguishes a Lycian and a Phoenician kind.[2] Vitruvius and Columella use it of the tree.[3] It is also cedarwood: Virgil advises burning fragrant cedar in the stables.[2][3] The oil or resin of the cedar was used to preserve books and in medicine.[2][1] Church Latin has it as the cedar tree.[7] Cedrus also occurs as a Roman cognomen in inscriptions.[6] English cedar comes from it: late Old English ceder, blended in Middle English with Old French cedre.[4]

Timeline

  • 86–34 BC – Sallust, of cedar oil.[2][5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius, of the tree.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, of fragrant cedarwood.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of Lycian and Phoenician cedar.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The cedar or juniper tree.[2][3][1]
  2. Cedarwood.[2][3]
  3. Cedar oil, used to preserve books and in medicine.[2][1]

Word family

  • cedrinus
  • cedrelatē
  • cedria
  • cedris
  • cedrium
  • citrus
  • English cedar

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson