iris

Forms

īris f (genitive īris or īridis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, “rainbow; iris plant”).^[2][1][3] The Greek word is of uncertain origin; it has traditionally been traced to Proto-Indo-European *wei- (“to bend, turn”).^[4][3]

The Romans already connected the plant with the rainbow: Pliny the Elder says it is named for its many colours, like the rainbow's.^[2] Servius derived the goddess's name from Ancient Greek ἔρις (éris, “strife”), because she was sent to sow discord.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest occurrence is in Cato's treatise on agriculture, which uses dried, crushed iris in a recipe, the orris root.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In poetry it is the name of Iris, the messenger of the gods and goddess of the rainbow, whom Juno sends down from heaven in Virgil and Ovid.^[2][6] Manilius and Seneca use the goddess as a personification of the rainbow itself,^[2] and the word means simply “rainbow” in Seneca's Natural Questions, Apuleius and the Vulgate, where a rainbow surrounds the throne in the Apocalypse.^[6][7] Pliny the Elder also uses it for an iridescent stone, perhaps a prismatic rock crystal, which throws the colours of the rainbow on a wall.^[2][6]

As the name of the plant and of its fragrant root it was common in medicine and perfumery, in Celsus, Columella and Pliny.^[2] Medieval writers kept the senses “rainbow” and “iridescent stone”;^[8] Bede calls the rainbow a sign of God's reconciliation.^[8] English took iris as the name of the plant in the late 14th century and for the membrane of the eye in the 15th.^[4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses iris root in a recipe.^[2][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil names the goddess Iris, sent by Juno.^[2][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it for the rainbow.^[7][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for an iridescent stone.^[2][3]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for the rainbow around the throne.^[6][3]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as the name of the plant.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mythology) Iris, the messenger of the gods and goddess of the rainbow.^[2][6]
2. A rainbow.^[2][6][7]
3. The iris plant; its fragrant root, orris, used in perfumes and medicine.^[2][6]
4. An iridescent stone, perhaps prismatic rock crystal.^[2][6]

Word family

• iricolor
• īrinus

Related words

• English iris

Usage notes

Iris is also the name of a river of Pontus that flows into the Black Sea, mentioned by Pliny the Elder.^[7][6] The OLD lists a separate, doubtful īris “hedgehog” in Plautus, perhaps better written ēr-, which belongs with ericius.^[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 k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ 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