ovarium

Forms

ōvārium n (genitive ōvāriī or ōvārī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ōvum (“egg”) + -ārium.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates its first record to an inscription of the 3rd century AD.^[3] In Classical Latin it named the structure in the circus that held the “eggs” used to count the laps of a chariot race.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A Greek–Latin glossary renders it with Ancient Greek ὠοφόρον (ōophóron, “egg-bearing”).^[4] In medieval Latin it was a cake made with flour and many eggs,^[5][3] glossed in Polish and Middle Low German.^[5][3]

Etymonline traces the anatomical sense to Medieval Latin ovaria, used of the ovary of a bird in the 13th century, and dates Modern Latin ovarium “ovary” to the 16th century.^[6] With this meaning it passed into English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.^[1]

Timeline

• 3rd century AD – An inscription uses it.^[3]
• 13th century – Medieval Latin ovaria names the ovary of a bird.^[6]
• 16th century – Modern Latin ovarium is used for the ovary.^[6]
• 1650s – Borrowed into English as ovary.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The structure in the circus holding the eggs used to count the laps of a chariot race.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) A cake made with flour and eggs.^[5][3]
3. (New Latin, anatomy) An ovary.^[1][6]

Related words

• English ovary

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com