Etymologically
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salix

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈsa.lɪks][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsaː.liks][1]

Forms

salix f (genitive salicis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *salik-.[2] Italo-Celtic *salik- may reflect PIE *slH-ik- or *sh₂l-ik-, but the change of suffix and the limited spread point to a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language.[2][1] Cognate with Old Irish sail (“willow”), Welsh helyg (“willows”), Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē, “willow”) and Old English sealh (“willow”), English sallow.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Latin it was a willow or osier, its branches and wood, as in Cato, Varro and Virgil.[5][6] Writers on farming named kinds such as salix Amerina and salix Gallica.[5] Prudentius uses it of a willow rod.[7] Its derivatives salictum “willow bed” and salignus “of willow” are in Plautus and Cato.[2]

It survives as Italian salice and Romanian salcie.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it and salignus.[6][2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A willow, osier.[5][6]
  2. A willow branch, willow rod.[7][1]

Word family

  • salicastrum
  • salictum
  • saligneus
  • salignus
  • salicīnus

Usage notes

Isidore says it is named because it grows quickly, from saliō “to leap”.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).