testiculus

Forms

testiculus m (genitive testiculī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin testis (“testicle”) + -culus,^[2][1] a diminutive.^[3] De Vaan explains the use of testis (“witness”) for the testicle by comparison with Greek usage, where the testicles are called the two “bystanders”; the noun itself goes back to Proto-Italic *tri-sto/i- and Proto-Indo-European *trito-sth₂-o- (“third standing (by)”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Rhetorica ad Herennium,^[3][5] and de Vaan records the plural testiculi from Varro on.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Celsus uses it in his medical work, and Juvenal and Martial in satire and epigram.^[3][5] Persius uses it figuratively for manly vigour, asking whether any vein of the paternal testiculus still lives in us.^[3][6] In the Pseudo-Apuleian herbal it is the name of a plant,^[3][6] which Gaffiot identifies as the orchis.^[5]

It appears in the Vulgate and in the early medieval law codes,^[7] and British medieval Latin also used it of the ovary and of part of a plant.^[8] English testicle, first recorded in the early 15th century, is an alteration of an earlier testicule from Latin testiculus.^[9]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it.^[3][7]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it in medicine.^[3][7]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it for manliness.^[3][7]
• End of the 4th century AD – The Pseudo-Apuleian herbal uses it as a plant name.^[3][7]
• Early 15th century – English testicle is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A testicle.^[2][3]
2. (figurative) Manliness, manly vigour.^[3][6]
3. A plant, the orchis.^[5][3]

Word family

• testiculātus

Related words

• testis
• English testicle

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com