mandragoras

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [manˈdra.ɡɔ.raːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [manˈdraː.ɡo.ras]^[1]

Forms

mandragorās m (genitive mandragorae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μανδραγόρας (mandragóras, “mandrake”).^[2][1][3] Wiktionary thinks the Greek word is probably from a Pre-Greek substrate, or possibly from Persian, and Etymonline calls it probably non-Indo-European.^[1][4] A feminine mandragora is also found, as in the Vulgate.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Celsus prescribes its root and its fruit.^[6][7] Köbler dates Celsus 14–37 AD.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It was the mandrake, used in medicine especially as a soporific, in Celsus, Columella and Pliny, who describes its use as a plaster.^[2][8][6] Apuleius and the jurist Marcian also mention it.^[3] The Vulgate uses the feminine in Genesis.^[5]

Medieval British writers used it of the mandrake as a plant shaped like a man, as a soporific and as an aphrodisiac.^[9] Late Old English and Middle English had the word in its Latin form, and English mandrake is recorded in the early 14th century, reshaped by folk etymology.^[4]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it in medicine.^[6][7]
• 1st century AD – Columella mentions it.^[8][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes it.^[2][7]
• early 14th century – English mandrake is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The mandrake, a plant used as a soporific.^[2][1]

Related words

• English mandrake
• English mandragora

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ 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