planta

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpɫan.ta]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈplan.ta]^[1]

Forms

planta f (genitive plantae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][1] The OLD treats the senses “sole of the foot” and “shoot” under separate headwords.^[3] De Vaan follows Walde–Hofmann and Ernout–Meillet in taking the second as a back-formation from an unattested verb *plantāre, “to level the soil” or “to plant with the sole of the foot”, so that both go back to one form.^[2]

He reconstructs inherited from Proto-Italic *plānt-ā-, either “the flat one”, from the root of plānus “flat”, or “the one that strikes (the ground)”, from the root of pellō “to push, beat”.^[2][1] Wiktionary also gives a form *plānktā from a root meaning “to strike”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards in the sense “sole of the foot”.^[2][4] The sense “shoot” appears from Cato onwards.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In farming it was a shoot or slip taken from a plant for propagation, and Cicero lists malleoli, plantae, sarmenta, “mallet-shoots, slips, twigs”.^[5] It was also a young tree for transplanting, and Juvenal uses it for a plant or herb in general.^[6][7]

As the sole of the foot it appears in Plautus and in Virgil, and planta duci was “to be dragged by the heel”.^[7] From it came supplantare, to trip someone up.^[2] Medieval Latin used it for a newly planted vineyard and for the sole of a shoe,^[8] and a Neo-Latin writer for the ground plan of a building.^[9] It survives as French plante, Italian pianta and Spanish planta, and English plant comes from Old English plante.^[1][10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for the sole of the foot.^[2][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for a shoot.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero lists it among cuttings.^[5][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for the sole of the foot.^[7][4]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it for a plant.^[7][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shoot, slip, cutting (for propagation).^[3][5]
2. A young tree for transplanting.^[6][1]
3. A plant, herb.^[7]
4. The sole of the foot; the foot.^[3][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A newly planted vineyard.^[8]
6. (Medieval Latin) The sole of a shoe.^[8]
7. (New Latin) A ground plan.^[9]

Word family

• plantāgō
• plantāris
• plantāria
• plantārium
• plantiger
• plantō

Related words

• plantatio
• palma
• pellō
• plānus
• English plant
• English supplant
• English plantation

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com