lignosus

Forms

lignōsus (feminine lignōsa, neuter lignōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lignum (“wood”) + -ōsus.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Pliny the Elder,^[3][4] meaning “woody”, of stalks that have the texture of wood.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Pliny uses it of stalks and of a glue,^[4] and has the comparative lignosior;^[4][5] of fruit it meant “having a large stone or kernel”.^[4][1]

It lives on in Italian legnoso, Spanish leñoso and Portuguese lenhoso.^[5]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder calls plant stalks lignosi.^[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having the quality or texture of wood, woody.^[2][4]
2. Of fruit: having a large stone or kernel.^[4][1]

Related words

• lignum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften