Etymologically
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holus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈhɔ.ɫʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔː.lus][1]

Forms

holus n (genitive holeris); third declension[1] Festus reports the old forms helus, plural helusa, olus is a frequent spelling.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Old Latin helus, inherited from Proto-Italic *χelos- (“greens”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-os (“green things”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green, yellow”) of helvus “yellowish”.[4][1][2] In the oblique cases *holor- regularly became ⟨holer-⟩.[4] Festus records the old forms helus and helusa, which de Vaan takes seriously, and a dialect form folus.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character complains that people serve him raw greens.[4][2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant vegetables or pot-herbs, usually in the plural or as a collective, as Horace's dining on greens.[2][6] With adjectives it named particular plants: holus ātrum was alexanders, holus marīnum a seashore plant like cabbage.[2] The spelling olus is also common.[2][6]

In Medieval Latin it was any green vegetable or herb, with holus rēgium “mallow”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of raw greens.[2][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses the ablative plural holeris.[2][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a meal of vegetables.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Vegetables, pot-herbs.[2]
  2. holus ātrum, alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum).[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ 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