Etymologically
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formica

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [fɔrˈmiː.ka][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [forˈmiː.ka][1]

Forms

formīca f (genitive formīcae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mormīkā-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *moru̯-o/ī̆- (“ant”).[2][1] The word for “ant” has many irregular forms in the Indo-European languages, probably from taboo distortion, as still happens in Dutch and German dialects.[2] The Latin /f/ may come from /m/ by dissimilation of /m…m/ to /f…m/.[2][1]

Cognate with Old Irish moirb (“ant”), Welsh myr (“ants”), Sanskrit वम्र (vamrá, “ant”), Avestan maoiri- (“ant”) and Ancient Greek μύρμηξ (múrmēx, “ant”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2][4] who threatens to have someone torn to pieces bit by bit by ants.[5]

Semantic evolution

It always meant “ant”, and Cicero, Virgil and Horace mention it.[5][6] Suetonius mentions winged ants.[6]

Servius, followed by Isidore of Seville, derived the name from the ant's carrying crumbs, micas ferre, an ancient guess.[7] It survives as Italian formica, Spanish hormiga, Portuguese formiga and Romanian furnică, and English formic (acid) was coined from it in 1791.[1][8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions ants.[5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions the ant.[5][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil describes the ant storing grain.[5][4]
  • c. 400 AD – Servius explains the name from the ant's carrying crumbs.[7][4]
  • 1791 – English formic is coined from it.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An ant.[3][1]

Word family

  • formicabilis
  • formīcīnus
  • formīcō
  • formīcōsus
  • formīcula

Usage notes

A spelling furmīca is also found, and survives in Romanian furnică.[1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com