granatus

Forms

grānātus (feminine grānāta, neuter grānātum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin grānum (“grain, seed”) + -ātus.^[2][1][3] grānum goes back to Proto-Italic *grāno- and Proto-Indo-European *ǵrh₂-no- (“which has ripened, fruit, grain”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records the adjective first in Scribonius Largus;^[3] Columella calls the apples known as Punic mala granata.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It meant “full of seeds” and was used almost only in the phrase mālum (or pōmum) grānātum, the pomegranate; the neuter grānātum alone named the fruit and also the tree.^[2][5]

In Medieval Latin the pomegranate sense continued, and ornaments shaped like pomegranates are listed in a German treasury inventory of 870.^[7] Of gems it meant red, and as a noun it named a red precious stone, the garnet.^[7][3] British writers also used it of seeds and pomegranates.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses the adjective.^[3]
• 1st century AD – Columella speaks of mala granata and of granata, pomegranates.^[5][6][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses malum granatum and granatum.^[6][5][3]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Numbers.^[6][3]
• 870 – A German treasury list records two silver ornaments shaped like pomegranates.^[7]
• c. 1035–1123 – Marbod of Rennes uses it of red gems.^[7][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Full of seeds or grains.^[2][5]
2. mālum grānātum: a pomegranate.^[2][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of gems: red.^[7]

Noun

1. grānātum (neuter): a pomegranate; the pomegranate tree.^[2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) A red precious stone, garnet.^[7]

Word family

• egranatus
• grānātum

Usage notes

A rare noun grānātus, of the fourth declension, apparently meant the gathering or production of a crop;^[2][6][9] the dictionaries cite it only from Cato's book on farming.^[6][9][3] De Vaan also lists it among the derivatives of grānum.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.