Etymologically
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pina

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpiː.na][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpiː.na][1]

Forms

pīna f (genitive pīnae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πῖνα (pîna, “pinna, a bivalve”),[2][3][4] also spelled πίννα (pínna) in Greek.[3][5] Wiktionary gives the Greek source as πίνη (pínē, “sea pen”).[1]

The Latin spelling ⟨pinna⟩ also occurs, but Lewis and Short call it less correct, and Georges notes that the best manuscripts of Cicero and Pliny write ⟨pina⟩.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero is the first to use it, in De finibus and De natura deorum, for the pinna, a large bivalve shellfish.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder describes the shellfish in his Natural History.[3][4] In an Old English glossary the word is glossed by delfin, so that it there names the dolphin or porpoise.[7] Köbler links Old English pīnewincle, a shore snail, with it.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero names the shellfish in De finibus and De natura deorum.[3][8]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes it.[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The pinna or sea-pen mussel, a large bivalve of the genus Pinna.[2][3][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A dolphin or porpoise.[7]

Usage notes

A medieval pina “pine tree”, from pinus, is a separate word, recorded in Britain from about 1362 and in the Latin of Poland.[8][9] A Lombard charter of 734 writes pina for poena “penalty”.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  10. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre