natrix

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈna.triːks], [ˈna.trɪks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnaː.triks]^[1]

Forms

natrī̆x f or m (genitive natrī̆cis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *(s)natriks, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)nh₁-tr-ih₂- (“one who spins round; snake”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- (“to spin”) of neō.^[2][3][1] Cognate with Old Irish nathir (“snake”), Welsh neidr (“snake”), Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌳𐍂𐌴 (nadre, “of adders”), German Natter and English adder.^[2][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucilius, who uses it of the penis.^[2][4] Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a water snake, as Cicero asks why god made such a multitude of water snakes and vipers, and Lucan's natrix violātor aquae, the snake that fouls water.^[4][6] Lucilius uses it obscenely of the penis, and Suetonius of a dangerous person.^[4][7] Pliny the Elder names a plant natrix whose root smells of a goat.^[4] Isidore of Seville says it poisons any spring it lives in.^[8]

In Medieval Latin it was a snake or water snake, a blindworm, and the serpent, Satan.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.^[4][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of water snakes and vipers.^[4][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder names a plant natrix.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A water snake.^[4]
2. The penis.^[4]
3. (figurative) A dangerous person.^[7]
4. An unidentified plant.^[4]

Related words

• neō
• English adder

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
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