gingiva

Forms

gingīva f (genitive gingīvae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][3][4] Pokorny compared words for round or lumpy things, such as Ancient Greek γογγύλος (gongúlos, “round”), Lithuanian gùnga (“hunch, lump”) and Old Norse kǫkkr (“ball”), but de Vaan finds the link between the gums and roundness unconvincing.^[2] Wiktionary mentions a possible source in Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁- (“to chew”).^[1] For the shape of the word the TLL compares salīva (“spittle”).^[4]

Lactantius explained the name from gignō (“to beget”), since the gums bring forth the teeth, and Isidore of Seville repeats this.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the TLL date it from Catullus,^[2][4][5] who uses it of the gums in two poems (39.19, 97.6).^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

It is used much more often in the plural than in the singular.^[4][8] After Catullus it is above all a word of the medical writers: Celsus speaks of what lies “between the tooth and the gum” (inter dentem et gingivam),^[6] and Scribonius Largus and Pliny the Elder use it too.^[4][6] Manuscripts often spell it ⟨geng-⟩.^[4]

Medieval Latin kept it as the anatomical term,^[9] and it lives on in gengiva, gencive and encía.^[4][7]

Timeline

• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of the gums.^[4][5]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it often in his medical work.^[6][4][5]
• c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it.^[4][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it.^[6][5]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius derives it from gignere, “to beget”.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The gums, the fleshy part around the teeth (usually in the plural).^[3][6][4]

Word family

• gingīvula

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ 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