Etymologically
Log in

orchis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 18:37. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɔr.kʰɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔr.kis][1]

Forms

orchis f (genitive orchis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὄρχις (órkhis, “testicle; orchid”), named from the shape of the plant's roots.[2][1][3] Köbler traces the Greek word to Proto-Indo-European *orǵʰi- (“testicle”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite Columella, of a kind of olive.[5][6] Köbler dates Columella to the 1st century AD.[4]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder used it for various kinds of orchid, named from the shape of their roots; in Columella and Palladius it was a kind of olive, also called ⟨orchītēs⟩.[2][5]

British Medieval Latin glossaries used it for a testicle, and botanists for a kind of orchis.[7] Linnaeus' family name Orchideae, from it, gave English orchid, introduced by John Lindley in 1845.[3]

Timeline

  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of an olive.[5][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of orchids.[2][4]
  • 1845 – English orchid is introduced by Lindley.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An orchid, several kinds named from the shape of the roots.[2]
  2. A kind of olive.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A testicle.[7]

Word family

  • triorchis

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b 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