ocinum

Forms

ōcinum n (genitive ōcinī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2] Lewis and Short, Georges, Köbler and Wiktionary give it as borrowed from Ancient Greek ὤκινον (ṓkinon),^[3][4][5][1] but the TLL notes that this Greek word survives only in Latin sources.^[6]

Varro derived the name from ὠκέως (ōkéōs, “quickly”) and also from its quickly moving the bowels of oxen,^[6] and Pliny the Elder says it was named because it grows up very fast.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato's De agri cultura is the first source: it lists ocinum among the crops to be sown with vetch, fenugreek and beans, and says to give it to the oxen when it is ripe.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names a fodder crop of the Republican period,^[2] which Lewis and Short take to be perhaps a kind of clover.^[3] Varro and Pliny the Elder mention it among fodder plants, and Pliny says that “the old writers” used the name for a fodder that tolerates shade.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato gives directions for sowing it and feeding it to oxen.^[6][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro explains the name.^[6][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes it as an old name for a fodder plant.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mixed fodder crop, perhaps a kind of clover.^[2][3][4]

Usage notes

The manuscripts often confuse it with ōcimum “basil”, and Lewis and Short list ōcimum, ōcymum and ōzymum as other spellings.^[6][3] The OLD notes that the quantity of its vowels is uncertain.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften