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urtica

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word urtica

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ʊrˈtiː.ka][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [urˈtiː.ka][1]

Forms

urtīca f (genitive urtīcae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The OLD calls its origin doubtful,[2] and Wiktionary unknown.[1] Lewis & Short, Georges and Köbler connect it with ūrō (“to burn”),[3][4][5] but Wiktionary reports that Ernout and Meillet reject this as a folk etymology, since that verb had a stem in /s/ and should have given a form like ⟨*ūstīca⟩.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Plautus,[5] who has the sea creature: captamus conchas, marinam urticam, musculos, “we catch shellfish, sea nettles, mussels”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The plant is in Catullus, who says he cured a cough with rest and nettle.[2] Ovid mentions its seed in an aphrodisiac, Celsus whipping numb limbs with nettles, and Horace and Persius eating it as a vegetable.[2] Pliny the Elder describes the sea nettles that move about at night and sting like the nettle on land.[2] Juvenal applied it to lust and the things that excite it.[2][3][4] Medieval writers in Britain name kinds of nettle: urtica Graeca for the annual nettle, and urtica mortua or urtica archangelica for the deadnettle.[6] Aldhelm wrote a riddle titled Urtica.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, the sea nettle.[2][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus, the stinging nettle.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes land and sea nettles.[2][5]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal, of lust.[2][5]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm's riddle on the nettle.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The stinging nettle.[2][3]
  2. (also urtica marina) A sea creature with stinging organs, a jellyfish or sea anemone.[2][3]
  3. Figuratively, lust, a sexual itch.[2][3][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) With a qualifier, other plants: urtica Graeca, annual nettle;[6] urtica mortua, deadnettle.[6]

Usage notes

An ancient glossary gives the Greek ἀσκαλάφη (askaláphē) for urtica marina.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e 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
Cite this entry

“Urtica.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/urtica. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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