viola

Forms

viola f (genitive violae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The OLD calls it probably cognate with Ancient Greek ἴον (íon, “violet”), earlier with initial ⟨ϝ⟩.^[2][1] Wiktionary and Etymonline think both probably come from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean substrate language, and Köbler, comparing the Greek word, calls it a borrowing from a Mediterranean language.^[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cato.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is the name of several fragrant spring flowers, distinguished by colour;^[2][1] Wiktionary names the sweet violet and the wallflower.^[2][1] Virgil's Eclogues and Pliny the Elder have it of the flower.^[5] Violets were used to deck graves: Ovid writes that the dead ask little, a tile with garlands and scattered violets.^[2] Collectively it means a bed of violets: Cicero asks whether someone thought he was speaking of being among violets or roses.^[5] It is also the colour violet: Virgil has the purple of the dark violet shining in the petals of a flower.^[2] English violet comes from it through Old French, from about 1300.^[3]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato mentions it.^[4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a bed of violets.^[5][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of the colour violet.^[2][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of violets on graves.^[2][4]
• c. 1300 – English violet.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A violet or a similar fragrant spring flower; the wallflower.^[2][5][1]
2. The colour violet.^[2][5]

References

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