stolo

Forms

stolō m (genitive stolōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *stel-ōn- or *stol-ōn-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *stel-n- (“shoot, stem”).^[2] De Vaan finds a matching noun in Armenian and a few Greek nouns of similar form and meaning, and explains the sense of the Latin, Greek and Old English words from the root *stel- (“to place”).^[2] The OLD also refers to stolidus.^[3]

Cognate with Ancient Greek στέλεχος (stélekhos, “the end of the stem at the root, stump, log”), στελεά (steleá, “shaft of an axe”) and Old English stela (“stalk of a plant”),^[2] and with Armenian ստեղն (steġn, “twig, branch”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Varro on,^[2] meaning a sucker springing from the root or stock of a tree: Varro says that Licinius Stolo confirmed his cognomen by his care in cultivation, since no stolo could be found on his farm.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder uses it of the suckers of plants,^[5][6] and Döderlein counts it among the shoots that are cut away, a sucker that harms the tree.^[7] Ausonius applies it to a dull, clumsy person.^[8]

English took it over as the botanical term stolon around 1600.^[9]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it for a sucker on a tree, explaining the cognomen of Licinius Stolo.^[4][10]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the suckers of plants.^[5][6][10]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius uses it of a blockhead.^[8][10]
• c. 1600 – Borrowed into English as stolon.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shoot or sucker growing from the root or stock of a plant.^[3][4][5]
2. (figurative) A dull, clumsy person, a blockhead.^[8]

Related words

• English stolon

Usage notes

Stolō was also a Roman cognomen, especially of Gaius Licinius Stolo, whom tradition makes a tribune from 376 to 367 BC;^[3] Livy has the name.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de