Etymologically
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gemma

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɡɛm.ma][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈd͡ʒɛm.ma][1]

Forms

gemma f (genitive gemmae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Italic *gebmā (“bud, sprout”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeb-m- (“sprout, bud”), with “bud” as the first meaning; it is cognate with Lithuanian žémbėti (“to germinate”) and Old Church Slavonic прозѧбнѫти (prozębnǫti, “to germinate”).[2] Walde and Hofmann, Pokorny and the OLD derive it from a root Proto-Indo-European *ǵembʰ- (“to bite”); de Vaan separates that root, “to cut”, from the one meaning “to germinate”, and rejects a link with gemō (“to groan”).[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author.[2] In the Curculio a seal is meant: sub gemmā “under seal”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is the bud or eye of a vine or tree, as in Cato's instructions for grafting.[3][2] Then it is a precious stone, as Cicero's necklace of gold and gems, a cup made of such a stone (Virgil), a signet or seal, a drop of resin or amber, and in Martial a pebble for marking days and a piece in a board game.[3] Quintilian notes that the ancients took “jewel” to be the original sense.[5]

Church Latin glosses it “jewel, gem, precious stone”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a seal.[2][3][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of a bud.[3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of precious stones.[3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a jewelled cup.[3][4]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial of a pebble and a game piece.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bud or eye (of a plant).[3][1]
  2. A precious stone, gem, jewel.[3][1][6]
  3. A cup of precious stone.[3]
  4. A signet, seal.[3]
  5. A drop of resin; amber.[3]
  6. A pebble (for marking days); a piece in a board game.[3]

Word family

  • bigemmis
  • gemmārius
  • gemmeus
  • gemmifer
  • gemmō
  • gemmōsus
  • gemmula
  • trigemmis
  • gemmātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson