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solsequia

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word solsequia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
end of 4th century AD, Pseudo-Apuleius
Ultimate origin
Latin sōl,sequor
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sol
Italian sole
Latin solsequia
French souci
From the same root
English parasol ← sol
Latin solstitium ← sol

Forms

sōlsequia f (genitive sōlsequiae); first declension[1] The neuter sōlsequium is used in the same sense.[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sōl (“sun”) + sequor (“to follow”), the plant that follows the sun.[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The herbal ascribed to Apuleius (Pseudo-Apuleius) has it as a name of the heliotrope.[1][4][3]

Semantic evolution

Isidore of Seville explains that the heliotrope is called solsequia by the Latins because it opens its flowers at sunrise and closes them at sunset.[5][1] The word was glossed in Old High German and Old English, where one gloss renders it sunfolgend, “sun-follower”.[4] In British medieval Latin solsequium named a plant that turns towards the sun, identified as the heliotrope or as the marigold.[6]

Timeline

  • end of 4th century AD – The Pseudo-Apuleian herbal uses it for the heliotrope.[1][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name.[5][1][4]
  • 507–877 – It appears in the capitularies.[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The heliotrope, a plant that turns towards the sun.[1][5][3]
  2. (Medieval Latin) The marigold.[6]

Usage notes

Isidore treats it as the Latin name of the plant the Greeks called heliotropium.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  2. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b 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
  7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Liber exquisiti xenii: Lexikon frühmittelalterlicher Rechtswörter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Solsequia.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/solsequia. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·