vespa

Forms

vespa f (genitive vespae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *we/op-s-h₂- (“wasp”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)uobʰ-s-h₂- (“wasp”).^[2] Cognate with Old English wæps, Old High German wefsa, Lithuanian vapsvà, Latvian vapsene and Old Prussian wobse, all meaning “wasp”.^[2][3]

The word is often traced to Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)uebʰ- (“to weave”),^[3][1][4] but de Vaan calls this questionable, since wasps are not known for weaving; he allows that the way they build their nests from paper pulp, or the net-like look of the nest, could have been described as weaving.^[2] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Italic *wospā, by metathesis from an earlier *wopsā.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Varro on,^[2] who names the wasp in his treatise on farming.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its single meaning, the wasp, through Classical Latin: Pliny the Elder discusses the insect, Phaedrus has it in a fable, and Livy mentions a huge swarm of wasps.^[7][8][6] The glossaries render it with Greek σφήξ (sphḗx).^[9]

Medieval writers used it the same way;^[10] Bede contrasts wasps with bees, since they build combs but store poison rather than honey,^[10] and in glosses vespa major names the hornet.^[10] It lives on in the Romance words for the wasp, such as Romanian viespe and Italian vespa.^[1][6]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro names the wasp in his treatise on farming.^[5][6][4]
• c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it in a fable.^[7][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy reports a huge swarm of wasps.^[8][6][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes wasps in his natural history.^[7][5][4]
• Middle Ages – British glosses use vespa major for the hornet.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wasp.^[3][7][5]
2. (Medieval Latin, in glosses, with major) A hornet.^[10]

Related words

• crābrō
• English wasp

Usage notes

A second, rare vespa is recorded by Festus as a word for a corpse-bearer, the same as vespillō.^[3][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ 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