cervix

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkɛr.wiːks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛr.viks]^[1]

Forms

cervīx f (genitive cervīcis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] Walde and Hofmann proposed *kers-weik-s “head band”, from the root of cerebrum and vinciō “to bind”, which de Vaan finds semantically very doubtful.^[2][1] The suffix recalls coxendīx “hip”.^[2] The OLD and TLL also compare that word.^[4][3] Isidore explains the name as the way by which the brain reaches the spinal marrow.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[2] who uses the plural cervīcēs for one neck.^[4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was the neck, especially the back of the neck or nape; in early writers and Cicero the plural was used for a single neck.^[4][7] It stood for the neck that is embraced, that bears a yoke, or that is struck by the executioner.^[4][7] By transfer it was the thin stalk under the head of a plant, and in medicine the neck of the bladder or the womb.^[4]

In the Vulgate and medieval Latin a hard or stiff neck was a sign of pride.^[8] English cervix was borrowed in the early 15th century; its use for the neck of the womb dates from the 19th century, and English cervical from the 1680s.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the plural of one neck.^[4][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of a head torn from the neck.^[7][6]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of the neck of the bladder.^[4][6]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains it as cerebrī via.^[5][6]
• early 15th century – English cervix is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The neck, especially the nape.^[4]
2. The stalk below the head of a plant.^[4]
3. The neck (of the bladder, of the womb).^[4]

Word family

• cervīcal
• cervīcālis
• cervīcātus
• cervīcōsus
• cervīcula

Related words

• cerebrum
• English cervix
• English cervical

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com