scorbutus

Forms

scorbūtus m (genitive scorbūtī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3][4] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford derive it, perhaps, from Middle Low German schorbūk, Dutch scheurbuik, a compound of schoren (“to break, lacerate”) and būk (“belly”);^[2][5] Hoad takes the Latin form as standing for ⟨*scorbūcus⟩.^[2] Weyer, quoted by Ramminger, already said the name was made from the Danish and coastal German ⟨Scorbuc⟩, “broken belly”, with ⟨Scormunt⟩ “broken mouth” for the gums and ⟨Scorbein⟩ “broken shins” for the legs.^[6] Weekley suggests an earlier Dutch form meaning “rend-bone”, a sailors' word whose second part was changed to ⟨buik⟩ “belly”.^[7]

Others reverse the direction.^[3][8] Skeat calls the Dutch etymology doubtful and takes the Low German and Dutch forms as popular etymologies of the Latin word,^[3] and Klein derives French scorbut from the Medieval Latin word, probably through Dutch or German.^[8] Wiktionary takes the Latin word from French,^[1] and Barnhart traces French ⟨scorbut⟩ to a Russian word, through some Germanic language, though he also compares the Germanic words for scurf.^[9] Weekley notes that some derive the Latin word from a Russian word for scratching, and that the uncertain dates and folk etymology obscure its origin.^[7] Köbler calls the origin unclear.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Weyer, quoted by Ramminger, defines it as a disease in which an obstruction of the spleen lets black bile mix with the blood and corrupt the whole body; he equates it with Pliny's stomacace and sceletyrbe.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was the medical name of scurvy in New Latin.^[1][4] Cowley, in verse, calls it a disease to which the Saxons gave the name, and which ravages the northern lands;^[6] in 1673 Schefferus writes that he has been ill for almost two years and that scorbūtus has taken over his whole body.^[6] The adjective scorbūticus gave English scorbutic in 1655,^[9][5] and the Latin noun lies behind English antiscorbutic and ascorbic, the name given to vitamin C in 1933.^[10][9] English scurvy, first an adjective from scurf, took the medical sense through association with French scorbut and Low German schorbūk.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1655 – English borrows scorbutic from New Latin scorbūticus.^[9][5]
• 1673 – Schefferus writes in a letter that scurvy has taken over his body.^[6]
• 1690s – English antiscorbutic is formed from it.^[10]
• 1933 – The name ascorbic acid is formed from scorbutic.^[9][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (New Latin) Scurvy.^[1][4][6]

Related words

• English scurvy
• English scorbutic

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
7. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com