lens
lens1 nit
Pronunciation
Forms
lēns f (genitive lendis); third declension[1]
Etymology
The nit is of uncertain origin.[2][3] It resembles the Indo-European words for “nit”, as Ancient Greek κονίς (konís), Old English hnitu, Proto-Slavic *gnida and Lithuanian glìnda, and de Vaan suggests that a form *dḱ(o)nid- was deformed into Proto-Italic *(d)lind-, though the details are difficult.[4][1] Like its cognates, it may come from a substrate language.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Pliny the Elder names remedies that kill nits and lice, as dog's fat.[2][5]
Semantic evolution
It is rare, mostly plural, in Pliny and Serenus Sammonicus; grammarians record it also as masculine.[6][7] Medieval writers used it with a variant lendina, glossed in Old English as hnitu, and Late Latin lendis survives in Old French lent and Walloon lin.[8][1]
Timeline
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of killing nits.[2][3]
- c. 700 – An Old English glossary renders lendina as hnitu.[8]
Meanings
Noun
lens2 lentil
Pronunciation
Forms
lēns f (genitive lentis); third declension[1]
Etymology
Its origin is unknown, probably a borrowing from an unidentified language.[1][3] Similar words for the lentil exist in Old High German linsa, Lithuanian lęšis and Proto-Slavic *lęťa, too close to be chance but too different for a common ancestor.[1][9] The OLD compares Ancient Greek λάθυρος (láthuros, “vetch”).[2] The accusative is ⟨lentim⟩ in Cato, and Titinius treats it as masculine.[2][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
The OLD's earliest citation is from Cato, of the lentil plant.[2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[3]
Semantic evolution
It meant the lentil plant, as in Cato and Virgil, and in Pliny the Elder its seed, the lentil, which Pliny says loves thin soil.[2][5][7] In Vegetius it meant duckweed.[7]
It survives in Romanian linte and was borrowed into Italian and Spanish lente.[1] Its derivative lenticula gave the word lentil, and English lens was named from it in the 1690s for the double-convex shape of the glass.[10]
Timeline
- 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of the lentil plant.[2][3]
- 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the lentil.[7][3]
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the seed.[2][3]
- 1690s – English lens is named from it.[10]
Meanings
Noun
Word family
- lenticula
- lentīgō
Related words
- nīdor
- English lens
- English lentil
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ 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
- ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com