Etymologically
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persicum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɛr.sɪ.kũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛr.si.kum][1]

Forms

persicum n (genitive persicī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin Persicus (“Persian”), its neuter used as a noun with pōmum (“fruit”) understood;[1][2] Etymonline traces it to the phrase for “Persian apple”.[3] The adjective comes from Persae (“the Persians”).[1] Compare Ancient Greek Περσικόν (Persikón, “peach”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Columella;[4] Pliny the Elder also uses it for the peach.[5]

Semantic evolution

Earlier writers said malum Persicum, as Celsus does of the liquid pressed from a peach kernel, and arbor Persica for the tree.[2] The neuter noun became the usual name of the fruit and lived on in medieval Latin.[6][5] Etymonline traces English peach to its Late Latin variant pessica through Old French;[3] Old English had borrowed it directly.[3]

Niermeyer also records a medieval persicum for a dark blue colour and cloth, the colour called perse.[6]

Timeline

  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it.[4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of the peach.[5][4]
  • c. 1400 – English peach, through Old French.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A peach, the fruit.[2][5][1][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A dark blue colour; dark blue cloth.[6]

Usage notes

The tree was arbor Persica or the feminine noun persicus.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill