mango

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈmaŋ.ɡoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmaŋ.ɡo]^[1]

Forms

mangō m (genitive mangōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably Greek, compare Ancient Greek μάγγανον (mánganon, “charm, means of bewitching”).^[2][3] Wiktionary and Köbler connect it with μαγγανεύω (manganeúō, “to use charms; to trick out”), so that it would mean one who dresses up his wares, but call the origin uncertain.^[1][4] Etymonline cites Buck's view that it is a loanword describing one who adorns his wares to make them look more valuable.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, quoted by Nonius, says some are so trimmed, polished and oiled that they look like a slave-dealer's slaves.^[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a dealer in slaves, and Seneca says such dealers hide every defect with some embellishment.^[2][3] Martial mentions a slave-dealer asking a hundred thousand for a boy.^[3][6] It was also a dealer in other wares, as Pliny the Elder's dealers in cassia bark, and a polisher of gems, and Quintilian uses it of one who makes up his goods to deceive.^[2][6]

In medieval Latin it was a swindler, a barterer or a merchant, and British writers used it of slave-dealers.^[7][8] It was borrowed early into Germanic, giving Old English mangere (“merchant”), the source of English monger.^[5]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a slave-dealer.^[2][4]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca describes their tricks.^[3][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of other dealers.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A slave-dealer.^[2][1]
2. A dealer in other goods, especially one who dresses up his wares.^[2][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) A swindler; a merchant.^[7]

Word family

• mangōnicō
• mangōnicus

Related words

• English monger

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn