nigellus

Forms

nigellus (feminine nigella, neuter nigellum); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin niger + -ellus, a diminutive of the adjective meaning “black”.^[1][2][3] De Vaan calls the origin of niger itself unknown.^[4] Varro already names it as the diminutive of ⟨niger⟩.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro has it first, in the Menippean Satires, of eyes with darkish little pupils (oculi suppaetuli nigellis pupulis).^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

In Latin it meant “blackish, somewhat dark”, and was used of a cloak, wine, stones and prunes;^[2][5] Ausonius calls the letters of the alphabet “the dark daughters of Cadmus” (nigellae Cadmi filiae), after the inventor of letters.^[2][6] It was also a Roman surname.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it described dark-haired people and became a nickname and the personal name Nigel,^[7] and the feminine or neuter was used as a noun for black cumin.^[7] In metalwork opus nigellum and the neuter noun nigellum meant niello or enamel,^[8] the black inlay of silver and lead that the Italians call niello.^[9]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of dark pupils and of a cloak.^[2][5][3]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius calls the letters “dark daughters of Cadmus”.^[2][6][3]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it in the City of God.^[5][3]
• end of 4th/beginning of 5th century AD – Palladius uses it of wine.^[2][5][3]
• 536–c. 610 AD – Venantius Fortunatus speaks of dark prunes.^[5][3]
• 1085 – A charter names a knight Nigellus.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Blackish, somewhat dark.^[1][2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) Dark-haired or dark-skinned; as a noun, a dark-haired man.^[7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Nielloed, enamelled;^[8] opus nigellum “enamel work”.^[8]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, neuter) Niello, enamel.^[8][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) Black cumin; also darnel or corncockle.^[7]
3. (Medieval Latin) The personal name Nigel.^[7]

Word family

• nigella

References

1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre