frondeus

Forms

frondeus (feminine frondea, neuter frondeum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin frōns¹ (“foliage”) + -eus.^[2][3][4] De Vaan finds no convincing etymology for the noun; he considers it possible that it and Greek θρόνα (thróna, “herbs, flowers”) go back to the same Mediterranean substrate word.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Virgil (70–19 BC),^[2][6] of bees that always seek leafy shelters (frondea semper tecta petunt) and of woods in leaf (nemora inter frondea).^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The OLD distinguishes two senses, made of foliage and abounding in foliage.^[2] Ovid uses it of a hut covered with leaves, Pliny the Elder of a crown of leaves, and Martial of a toothpick cut from a twig (frondea cuspis).^[7][8][9] In the Old Latin Bible the neuter plural frondea stands for leaves.^[10]

Medieval Latin used it for leafy trees and vines, with a superlative frondissimus that also appears in a place name, and as a noun for leaves or a tree.^[11] In British sources it describes trees with leafy branches.^[12]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Georgics and the Aeneid.^[2][6]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid describes a hut covered with leaves.^[7][6]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial calls a toothpick of twig frondea cuspis.^[7][6]
• after 220 AD – The Old Latin Bible uses the neuter plural for leaves.^[10][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Made of foliage or leaves.^[2][7]
2. Covered with leaves, leafy.^[2][7]
3. (Late Latin, neuter plural as noun) Leaves.^[10][11]

Usage notes

Servius, commenting on Virgil's nemora inter frondea, remarked that the poet had put frondea for frondosa: properly a thing is frondeus when it is made entirely of leaves, like a couch, but a wood is frondōsus, full of leaves without being made of them.^[3] Isidore repeats the distinction.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
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 d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
11. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
12. ^ 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