salignus

Forms

salignus (feminine saligna, neuter salignum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] A collateral form ⟨salignĕus⟩ is found in Cato, Columella and the Digest.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin salix (“willow”) + -nus, formed like lārignus and īlignus.^[5][1][6] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of salix, which goes back to Proto-Italic *salik- (“willow”).^[4] Cognates of that noun are Old Irish sail and Welsh helyg, Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē) in Arcadian, and Old English sealh, all “willow”; de Vaan thinks the shape of the word and its narrow distribution point to a non-Indo-European tree name.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Cato,^[4][7] who speaks of wedges of willow wood in his treatise on agriculture.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word means made of willow wood or of withies.^[5][2] Horace has a willow cudgel, Ovid willow spits, a willow bed and willow foliage, and Vitruvius willow stakes;^[2][6] Virgil has willow wickerwork bent for shields, and Petronius a wicker hurdle.^[2][8]

In medieval Latin it still meant “of willow”: Aldhelm has a lantern built of willow wood, and in British sources the feminine is also used as a noun for the willow or osier itself.^[9]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato speaks of willow wedges.^[2][8][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of willow wickerwork for shields.^[2][7]
• 65–8 BC – Horace has a willow cudgel.^[2][7]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid has willow spits and a willow bed.^[2][7]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm has a lantern of willow wood.^[9][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of willow or willow wood; made of withies or osier.^[5][2]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, feminine) A willow, osier.^[9]

Related words

• salix
• salictum

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c 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