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hedera

Etymology and origin of the Latin word hedera

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Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
Laberius

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈhɛ.dɛ.ra][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛː.de.ra][1]

Forms

hedera f (genitive hederae); first declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][3][4] Pokorny and Meiser derived it from the root *gʰed- “to grasp” of prehendō, as “the clinging one”, through a stem *hedes-o-, and Festus explained that ivy holds fast to whatever it touches.[2][1] De Vaan finds this only a guess, since no s-stem of the root is known.[2] Isidore said it was named because it clings to trees as it creeps.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Laberius.[2][6] Köbler dates Laberius 106–43 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It was ivy, as Cicero writes that ivy has covered everything and Catullus compares a bride's arms to clinging ivy round a tree.[3] Ivy was sacred to Bacchus and wound round the thyrsus, and garlands of it crowned poets.[7][8] In inscriptions ivy-leaf signs divided words.[3]

It was inherited by almost every Romance language: Italian edera, Old French ierre, with the article fused in French lierre, Spanish hiedra and Romanian iederă.[9][1] Linnaeus made Hedera the name of the ivy genus.[7]

Timeline

  • 106–43 BC – Laberius uses it.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero writes that ivy has covered everything.[3][6]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus compares a bride to clinging ivy.[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Ivy.[3]
  2. (plural) Ivy-leaf signs dividing words in inscriptions.[3]

Word family

  • hederāceus
  • hederatus
  • hederiger
  • hederōsus

Usage notes

Isidore quotes Virgil's ivy among the victor's laurels.[5]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b 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. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
Cite this entry

“Hedera.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/hedera. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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