Etymologically
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planta

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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
  • 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