Etymologically
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margarita

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mar.ɡaˈriː.ta][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [mar.ɡaˈriː.ta][1]

Forms

margarīta f (genitive margarītae); first declension[1] Also neuter margarītum, rare and not in Cicero.[2] The OLD enters only the feminine.[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μαργαρίτης (margarítēs, “pearl”), with λίθος (líthos, “stone”) understood.[3][4][2][5] Köbler calls the Greek word an oriental loanword.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro has it, and Cicero, in the speeches against Verres, says that there was no gem or pearl that he did not take.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the pearl.[3] Cicero speaks of an ornament of pearls, the Digest of a string of pearls, and Pliny the Elder of British pearls.[2] Tacitus says that the Ocean produces pearls, using the neuter.[2] As a term of endearment Augustus called Maecenas his “pearl of the Tiber”, and Petronius has it too.[2] The Vulgate's Gospel of Matthew has the one pearl of great price and the saying ne mittatis margaritas vestras ante porcos, “do not cast your pearls before swine”.[2] British medieval writers took up both images, Gildas and Aldhelm of pearls trampled by swine and Alcuin of the pearl bought by selling everything; they also used it for something precious, for Christ and for saints.[7] As a woman's name, Late Latin Margarīta gave English Margaret through Old French.[5]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro has the word.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of stolen pearls in the speeches against Verres.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of pearls of the Ocean.[2][6]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate, “pearls before swine”.[2][6]
  • c. 1300 – English Margaret, from the Late Latin name through Old French.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pearl.[3][2][1][8]
  2. A term of endearment, “pearl, treasure”.[2][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Something precious;[7] Christ; a saint or a saint's relics.[7]

Word family

  • margarītārius
  • margarītātus
  • margarīticandicans
  • margarītifer
  • margarītum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c 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
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson