ulva

Forms

ulva f (genitive ulvae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] The OLD tentatively compares alga (“seaweed”);^[2] Wiktionary suggests Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“to grow”),^[1] and Köbler, with a question mark, Pokorny's root Proto-Indo-European *el- (“to rot, be mouldy”).^[3][4] Isidore of Seville thought it was named from the marshy moisture in which it grows.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato is the first to use it, in his book on farming.^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the poets it is the sedge of marshes and riverbanks:^[2][6] Virgil has ulva palustris, and Horace a boar fattened on sedge and reeds.^[8] Pliny the Elder uses it in his books on trees and plants.^[6][9] Medieval glossaries in Britain explain it as a marsh plant and give Old English and French equivalents,^[10] and Italian took it over as ulva.^[1]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in his book on farming.^[3][6][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Georgics and the Eclogues.^[6][9][3]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it in the Metamorphoses.^[7][6][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it in the Natural History.^[6][9][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sedge; a general name for grass-like or rush-like aquatic plants.^{[2][6][11][10]}

Word family

• ulvōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911)., p. 17.9.100
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
9. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn