Etymologically
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pulpa

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpʊɫ.pa][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpul.pa][1]

Forms

pulpa f (genitive pulpae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pelpā- (“meat”), as Umbrian pelmner (“of meat”) shows that the first vowel was /e/; pulmentum “relish” goes back to *pelp-mento-.[2][1] Beyond Italic its origin is unknown.[1][3] Etymonline mentions a link with pulvis “dust”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato.[2][3] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It was the fleshy part of an animal body, solid flesh as opposed to bones, as Seneca's breath that dwells not in sinews and flesh but in the vitals, and meat as food, as Martial's “you devour flesh”.[5][6] Persius used it of the sinful flesh of men.[7] By transfer it was the flesh of fruit.[5]

Döderlein says pulpa is edible, savoury flesh as opposed to bone, while carō is flesh in general.[8] It survives in Italian polpa and Spanish pulpa, and English pulp “fleshy part of a fruit” was taken from it about 1400.[1][4]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[7][3]
  • 34–62 AD – Persius speaks of sinful flesh.[7][3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the flesh of the body.[5][3]
  • c. 1400 – English pulp is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The fleshy parts of the body, flesh; meat.[5][6]
  2. The pulp of a fruit.[5]

Word family

  • pulmentum
  • pulpamen
  • pulpōsus
  • pulpāmentum

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes carō (flesh in general), pulpa (edible flesh, as opposed to bones) and viscera (everything under the skin).[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper