petroselinum

Forms

petroselīnum n (genitive petroselīnī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πετροσέλινον (petrosélīnon, “rock parsley”),^[2][1][3] a compound of πέτρος (pétros, “stone”) and σέλινον (sélinon, “celery, parsley”).^[1][3] Köbler calls the further origin of sélinon unclear, a word from the Mediterranean region.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Celsus, who uses the plant in medicine.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Scribonius Largus also uses it in remedies,^[4] and Pliny the Elder describes it as a kind of parsley.^[5][4] The OLD identifies it as an umbelliferous plant growing on rocks, the parsley.^[2]

The spelling varied: petri- appears in a Pliny text on medicine, -seleni in Diocletian's price edict, and -silin- or -silen- in many medieval manuscripts, with more altered forms such as petrosillen and petrisilio.^[6] In medieval Britain it named parsley and also Alexanders, the Macedonian parsley; an Old English glossary equates petrosilium with petersilie.^[7]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it in medicine.^[4][3]
• c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it in remedies.^[4][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes it as a kind of parsley.^[5][4][3]
• 11th century – An Old English glossary equates petrosilium with petersilie.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Parsley, an umbelliferous plant of rocks (Petroselinum crispum).^[2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) Alexanders, Macedonian parsley.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c 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