rubia

Forms

rubia f (genitive rubiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ruber (“red”),^[2][1] according to Wiktionary shortened from the phrase ⟨rubia herba⟩, “red plant”;^[1] Lewis & Short connect it with rubeus¹ (“reddish”).^[3] The base goes back to Proto-Italic *ruþro- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁rudʰ-ró- (“red”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius is the earliest author cited for it,^[3][5][6][7] using it for madder, the red dye.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It named madder, both the dye and the plant that gives it.^[2][3] Pliny the Elder notes that some called it ἐρυθρόδανον (eruthródanon).^[3] Isidore of Seville explained the name from the plant's red root, with which wool was dyed.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it for madder.^[3][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the plant.^[3][7]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville derives its name from its red root.^[8][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Madder, a red dye, or the plant that yields it (Rubia tinctorum).^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).