Etymologically
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rana

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈraː.na][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈraː.na][1]

Forms

rāna f (genitive rānae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is onomatopoeic, probably imitating a croaking sound “rā”, from Proto-Italic *rā-nā-.[2][1][3] De Vaan and the Thesaurus mention a possible root Proto-Indo-European *reh₂(i)- (“to roar”), as in Sanskrit रायति (rā́yati, “barks”).[2][4] The Oxford Latin Dictionary compares rancō “to roar”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro says the frog is named from its own voice.[5][6] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a frog, including the toad, as Virgil's frogs croaking in the mud and Cicero's frog that forecasts rain.[5][8] Rāna marīna was the angler fish, and it was a swelling under the tongue of animals, and a mark for the water level in a bath.[5]

In medieval Latin the frog was a type of garrulity, ugliness or rancour.[9] Through Old French raine “frog” it gave English rennet, a speckled apple.[3] It survives as Italian rana and Spanish rana.[1]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro explains its name.[5][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil's frogs croak in the mud.[10][7]
  • mid-15th century – English rennet, a kind of apple, is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A frog; a toad.[5][10]
  2. Rāna marīna, the angler fish.[5]
  3. A swelling under the tongue of an animal.[5][8]
  4. A mark for the water level in a bath.[5]

Word family

  • rānula
  • rānunculus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press