Etymologically
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tisana

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtɪ.sa.na][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtiː.s̬a.na][1]

Forms

tisana f (genitive tisanae); first declension[1] Also spelled ptisana, the headword of Lewis & Short and Georges.[2][3] Georges records tysana in Pliny Valerianus,[3] and Köbler also lists pstisina and tipsana.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πτισάνη (ptisánē, “pearl barley”).[5][1][6] Georges and Köbler connect the Greek word with πτίσσω (ptíssō, “to crush, pound”),[3][4] and Köbler tentatively takes it further to Proto-Indo-European *peis- (“to crush”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Varro, quoted by Nonius,[2][4] for a drink made from barley, barley water.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 1st century AD it is the hulled grain itself, pearl barley,[5][2] a word Celsus uses often in his medical work,[3][2] and the drink made from it, which Columella and Pliny the Elder mention.[5] Pliny also speaks of a tisana made from rice instead of barley.[5] The Vulgate has the form ptisana in Proverbs.[2]

Medieval glossaries explain it as water boiled with barley.[7] It passed into Middle French as tizane, the source of French and English tisane,[1] and English had taken the Latin word earlier as ptisan.[8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro, as quoted by Nonius, uses it for barley water.[2][4]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it often in his medical work.[3][4]
  • 1st century AD – Columella names it among the products of barley.[5][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the usual way of preparing it.[5][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses ptisana in Proverbs.[2][4]
  • 14th century – English borrows the Latin word as ptisan.[8]
  • by 1931 – English takes the form tisane from French.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Hulled barley, pearl barley.[5][2]
  2. A drink made from it, barley water.[5][2]

Word family

  • tisanārium
  • English tisane

Usage notes

Georges distinguishes it, barley crushed and cleaned of its husks, from polenta.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  7. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com