Etymologically
Log in

pastinaca

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:18. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pas.tɪˈnaː.ka][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [pas.tiˈnaː.ka][1]

Forms

pastināca f (genitive pastinācae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from pastinum “two-pronged dibble” or pastinō “to dig”, with the suffix -āca.[2][1][3] The TLL leaves the connection open.[4] Isidore derived it from the root being a chief food, ⟨pastus⟩, of men.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Celsus, of the carrot and the stingray.[2] Köbler dates Celsus 14–37 AD.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a carrot, and apparently also the parsnip, as in Pliny the Elder, and in Columella pastināca agrestis and similar names of wild plants, probably the wild carrot.[2][6][7] In Celsus and Pliny the Elder it also meant the stingray, pastināca marīna.[2][6]

British Medieval Latin used it for a root vegetable, the parsnip or carrot.[8] It survives in Italian pastinaca and Catalan pastanaga, and Old French pasnaie gave Middle English passenep, whence English parsnip about 1500.[1][9]

Timeline

  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of the carrot and of the stingray.[2][3]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of wild carrots.[2][3]
  • c. 1500 – English parsnip is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A carrot; a parsnip.[2]
  2. The stingray.[2]

References

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