Etymologically
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scomber

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈskɔm.bɛr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈskɔm.ber][1]

Forms

scomber m (genitive scombrī); second declension[1] Priscian records a by-form scombrus, without an example.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σκόμβρος (skómbros, “mackerel”).[3][4][2][5] The origin of the Greek word is unclear;[5] Wiktionary suggests it may ultimately be of Pre-Greek origin.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it in the Captivi, in the phrase scomber horaeus, a mackerel in season.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In the classical period it is the name of a sea fish, most likely the mackerel.[2][3] Lewis & Short describe it as a kind of tunny.[7] Catullus, Persius and Martial mention it,[7][2] Columella and Pliny the Elder also mention it,[7][2] and Pompeian inscriptions speak of a fish sauce made from it, garum scombri.[2]

British Medieval and Renaissance Latin kept the word for the mackerel: John Caius compares the shape of another fish to it.[8] Italian sgombro continues it.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions a mackerel in season.[2][6][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses the word.[7][2][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella mentions it.[7][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes about it and about a sauce made from it.[7][2][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial mentions it several times.[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sea fish, probably the mackerel.[3][2][9]
  • Italian sgombro

Usage notes

Garum scombri, a fish sauce made from it, appears on labels of jars found at Pompeii.[2]

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 k l Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.