Etymologically
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eruca

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [eːˈruː.ka][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eˈruː.ka][1]

Forms

ērūca f (genitive ērūcae); first declension[1]

Etymology

De Vaan analyses it as ēr-ūca, from ēr “hedgehog”, the caterpillar being named for its rough back, with the suffix taken from verrūca “wart”.[2][3] The OLD and TLL call the origin uncertain.[4][5] A variant is ūrūca.[2] Isidore of Seville derived the caterpillar from ērōdere (“to gnaw away”), and the herb from ūrere (“to burn”), for its fiery strength.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the Moretum, where rocket rouses slow desire.[2][4] Köbler's first source is Pliny the Elder.[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant an acrid herb used as an aphrodisiac, rocket, as in Horace, and a kind of caterpillar, as in Columella.[4][8][9] In Medieval Latin it was rocket, charlock or hedge mustard.[10]

It survives in Italian ruca, with the diminutives ruchetta and rucola.[1][3] English rocket came about 1500 through French roquette, and English arugula in 1967 from a dialectal Italian form.[3]

Timeline

  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of the herb.[8][7]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a caterpillar.[9][7]
  • c. 1500 – English rocket (the plant) is recorded.[3]
  • 1967 – English arugula is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Rocket (the herb Eruca sativa).[4]
  2. A caterpillar.[4][9]
  • brūchus
  • ēr
  • English rocket
  • English arugula

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ 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