radix

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈraː.diːks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈraː.diks]^[1]

Forms

rādīx f (genitive rādīcis); third declension^[1] Varro has a genitive plural rādīcium.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wrād-ī-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ur(e)h₂-d-iH- (“root”).^[3][1][4] Cognate with Welsh gwraidd (“roots”), Ancient Greek ῥάδιξ (rhádix, “branch, twig”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐍃 (waúrts, “root”), Old English wyrt (“plant, root”) and Old Norse rót (“root”).^[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.^[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was the root of a plant or tree, as in Caesar's trees undermined at the roots, ab rādīcibus was “roots and all”.^[2][6] It was the root of the hair or teeth, the lower part or base of anything, and the source or origin of something.^[2][1] It also meant a radish and a family or stock.^[1]

In medieval Latin it was also a country seat.^[7] It survives as Italian radice, Spanish raíz and Portuguese raiz.^[1] English radical comes from rādīcālis, and Old English borrowed it as rædic, “radish”.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[3][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar describes trees undermined at the roots.^[6][5]
• late 14th century – English radical is recorded, from rādīcālis.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A root (of a plant), ab rādīcibus, roots and all.^[2][9]
2. The root (of hair or teeth).^[2]
3. The lower part, base.^[2][1]
4. The source, origin.^[2]
5. A radish.^[1]
6. Stock, family.^[1]
7. (Medieval Latin) A country seat.^[7]

Word family

• rādīcīna
• rādīcitus
• rādīcōsus
• rādīcula
• rādīcālis
• multiradix
• uīuerādix
• ērādīcō
• rādīcātus
• rādīcescō
• rādīcō
• rādīcor

Related words

• rāmus
• English radical
• English radish

Usage notes

Isidore says the root is so called because it plunges into the earth fixed as if by rays (radiī).^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).