Etymologically
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vicia

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈwɪ.ki.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈviː.t͡ʃi.a][1]

Forms

vicia f (genitive viciae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wikiā.[1] De Vaan explains it as a “winding plant” and suggests that it continues the root of vinciō (“to bind”) without its nasal, *uik-;[2] Etymonline and the OLD also mention a possible link with that verb.[3][4] Wiktionary gives as alternatives Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to curve, bend”) or *weh₁y- (“to turn, wind”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato's work on farming.[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the vetch, grown as fodder, Vicia sativa, and also a vetch pea.[4] Lewis & Short cite it in the farming writers Varro, Columella and Palladius, and in Pliny the Elder, Virgil's Georgics and Ovid's Fasti.[6] In Church Latin it is a climbing leguminous plant, the vetch.[7] Through Anglo-French veche it became English vetch, and Dutch wikke and German Wicke are borrowed from it.[3]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato, on farming.[2][6][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro, on farming.[6][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, in the Georgics.[6][5]
  • mid-14th century – English vetch, through Anglo-French.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Vetch, grown as fodder; a vetch pea.[4][6][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson