Etymologically
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sesamum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈseː.sa.mũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛː.s̬a.mum][1]

Forms

sēsamum n (genitive sēsamī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σήσαμον (sḗsamon, “sesame”).[2][3][1] Köbler and Etymonline take the Greek from a Semitic language, compare Akkadian samassamu, and Etymonline says it came through Phoenician.[4][5] Other forms are sēsamon and sīsamum.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus mentions it in the Poenulus.[6][7] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC, though he names Celsus as its first author.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant sesame seed and the oil pressed from it, and also the plant: Columella says some people sow sesame this month.[2][6] Pliny the Elder calls the castor-oil plant sēsamum silvestre.[2][8] Celsus and Petronius use it too.[6]

In medieval British Latin it was sesame and its seed.[9] English sesame is recorded in the early 15th century.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions it.[6][4]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it in medicine.[6][4]
  • 1st century AD – Columella writes about sowing it.[2][4]
  • early 15th century – English sesame is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. sesame seed; its oil.[2][6]
  2. The sesame plant, sēsamum silvestre the castor-oil plant.[2]

Usage notes

Sēsamum is also the name of a town in Paphlagonia mentioned by Pliny the Elder.[8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ 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