cortex

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔr.tɛks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔr.teks]^[1]

Forms

cortex m or f (genitive corticis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *k(o)rt-ek-, from Proto-Indo-European *k(o)rt- (“a cutting”), with the suffix of caudex and frutex.^[2] Cognate with Sanskrit कृन्तति (kṛntáti, “cuts”), Lithuanian kir̃sti (“to hew”) and Old High German herdo (“skin”), and related to corium “skin” and scortum.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary takes the root as *(s)ker- “to cut”, as in English shear.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato, who tells how to rub the husks off wheat.^[2][3] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was the bark of a tree and in particular cork, used for floats and beehives, and so a symbol of lightness.^[3][6] It also meant the rind of fruit, the husk of grain, the shell of an egg or turtle, and any outer layer.^[3][6] It was usually masculine, but Lucretius and Virgil make it feminine.^[3]

In medieval British Latin it could mean the surface or literal meaning of a text, as opposed to its kernel.^[7] English cortex was borrowed in the 1650s, and the brain's cortex is from 1741.^[8]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato speaks of rubbing the husks off wheat.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero says tree trunks are covered with bark.^[3][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it as a feminine.^[3][5]
• 1650s – English cortex is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. bark (of a tree).^[3]
2. cork.^[3]
3. A rind, husk, shell; an outer layer.^[3][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) The surface or literal sense (of a text).^[7]

Word family

• corticātus
• corticeus
• corticōsus
• corticulus
• dēcorticō

Related words

• scortum
• corium
• English cortex

References

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