perna

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛr.na]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛr.na]^[1]

Forms

perna f (genitive pernae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *persnā, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *tspērsn-h₂- (“heel”); in Latin the word for the heel shifted to the haunch and upper leg.^[2][1] Lubotsky connects it with a root meaning “to kick with the heel”, as in spernō, the first /s/ being lost by dissimilation; the word may go back to a compound of “foot” and “to beat, kick”.^[2] Cognate with Sanskrit पार्ष्णि (pā́rṣṇi, “heel”), Ancient Greek πτέρνη (ptérnē, “heel”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌽𐌰 (fairzna, “heel”) and Hittite paršna-.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first attestation is Naevius, whom Köbler dates c. 235–200 BC; the OLD's earliest citation, from Naevius, is of a ham.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

It meant the leg, especially the thigh, as in Ennius, who tells of soldiers' hamstrings being cut, and in Naevius a leg of pork, a ham, as in Horace.^[3][5][6] In Pliny the Elder it meant the thick base of a shoot or sucker, and a sea mussel shaped like a ham.^[3]

British Medieval Latin used it for the leg and for a ham as a joint of meat.^[7] It survives in Spanish pierna and Portuguese perna “leg”.^[1] Etymonline gives as one possible origin of English pearl a Vulgar Latin diminutive ⟨*pernula⟩, since perna meant “sea mussel” and later in Sicily “pearl”.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of a ham.^[3][4]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the thigh.^[3][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a sea mussel.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The leg, especially the thigh.^[3]
2. A ham, gammon.^[3]
3. The thick base of a shoot.^[3]
4. A sea mussel.^[3]

Word family

• compernis
• pernārius
• perniger
• pernunculus

Related words

• spernō
• pernīx
• English pearl

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ 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. ^ 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. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com