Etymologically
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murex

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmuː.rɛks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmuː.reks][1]

Forms

mūrex m (genitive mūricis); third declension[1] Pliny the Elder has mūrix.[2]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[3][1] De Vaan thinks it may belong with mūs (“mouse”), since mūsculus also means a mussel; or it may be a loanword, related to Ancient Greek μύαξ (múax, “sea mussel”).[3][2] Wiktionary suggests that both come from a Mediterranean substrate language.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Ennius, whose poem on fine foods, quoted by Apuleius, names the purple shellfish.[4][5] De Vaan and the OLD cite Lucilius.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It is the shellfish that yields the purple dye, also eaten: Horace has the murex of Baiae.[2][5] Its spiny shell had many uses: Ovid has a grotto roof set with shells and murex in turn, and Valerius Flaccus has Tritons blowing it as a trumpet.[2][5] From the shape it is a sharp rock, on which oars crash in Virgil, and an iron caltrop scattered round a town.[2] It is also the purple dye and purple cloth: Virgil has a cloak glowing with Tyrian purple.[2] Pliny the Elder has the form ⟨mūrix⟩.[2]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of the purple shellfish.[5][4]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.[2][3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a sharp rock and of Tyrian purple.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of shells in a grotto.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The murex, the purple-fish, a shellfish that yields a purple dye.[2][5][1]
  2. Its spiny shell; a sharp rock;[2][1] mūrex ferreus, a caltrop.[2][1]
  3. The purple dye; purple cloth; a purple colour.[2][1]

Word family

  • mūricātus
  • mūriculus
  • English murex

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press