persica

Forms

persica f (genitive persicae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin Persicus (“Persian”), the feminine of the adjective used as a noun,^[1] short for ⟨arbor Persica⟩, “Persian tree”.^[2] Etymonline traces the name of the fruit to ⟨mālum Persicum⟩, “Persian apple”, a rendering of Greek.^[3] Compare the neuter persicum, the fruit.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's only witness is Pliny the Elder, who lists the peach tree among trees that can be cut back for new growth, beside the ash, laurel and hazel.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Classical Latin usually called the tree arbor Persica or persicus and the fruit malum Persicum or persicum.^[2] In Late Latin persica named the peach, fruit and tree alike.^[1] The Appendix Probi censures the spoken form pessica in favour of persica,^[4] and the glossaries give persica for Greek περσικά (persiká) beside the spelling pescas.^[5] Du Cange equates the medieval word with malum Persicum and the French pêche.^[6]

Wiktionary records a medieval sense “walnut”.^[1] The Late Latin variant pessica led, through Medieval Latin pesca and Old French, to English peach.^[3] Italian persica and pesca and Albanian pjeshkë also continue it.^[1][7]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder names the peach tree persica.^[2][8]
• c. 1400 – English peach appears, from Old French pesche or directly from Medieval Latin pesca.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A peach tree.^[2][8]
2. (Late Latin) A peach, the fruit.^[1][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A walnut.^[1]

Related words

• persicum
• Persicus
• English peach

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Appendix Probi, a late antique list of correct and censured Latin word forms ("calida non calda"); ed. H. Keil, Grammatici Latini IV, Leipzig 1864, 197–199.
5. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de