herpes

Forms

herpēs m (genitive herpētis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἕρπης (hérpēs, “shingles”),^[2][3][1] a derivative of the Greek verb ἕρπω (hérpō, “to crawl, creep”).^[4][5] Beekes takes the Greek verb to be the same verb as Latin serpō and Sanskrit सर्पति (sárpati), all meaning “to creep”;^[4] Köbler traces it to Proto-Indo-European *serp- (“to creep”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder (23/24–79 AD) has the word in two senses: a kind of creeping skin disease, which the plant aizoum is said to check, and an unidentified animal used to heal such spreading sores.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short suggest that Lucilius may already have used it, in a line quoted by Nonius, where other editors read herpestica;^[6] Celsus writes the word in Greek letters.^[6] The TLL records the spellings erp-, herb- and a first-declension form herpeta.^[7]

In Medieval Latin it named an ulcer, a rash or a scaly eruption of the skin.^[8] With cingulus it meant shingles (herpes cingulus), and with esthiomenus or mordax an eating sore; it was paired with serpigo, a word for a creeping skin disease.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for a skin disease and for an unidentified animal.^[2][5]
• late 14th century – English borrows it for spreading inflammations of the skin.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A creeping eruption of the skin, a kind of herpes.^[2][6]
2. An unidentified animal used as a remedy for spreading sores.^[2][11]
3. (Medieval Latin) An ulcer, rash or scaly eruption; with cingulus, shingles.^[8][9]

Word family

• herpesticus

Related words

• serpō
• serpēns
• English herpes

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b 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
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier