viriditas

Forms

viriditās f (genitive viriditātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin viridis (“green”) + -tās.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,^[3] of the green of plants: quid dē prātōrum viriditāte plūra dīcam?, “why should I say more about the greenness of meadows?”^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Besides the green of growing plants and green vegetation itself, it is used of other things, such as the green of the sea, which certain beryls imitate in Pliny the Elder.^[2][4] Cicero also used it figuratively for youthful freshness and vigour, which old age takes away, and of a laurel losing its green.^[2][4]

British Medieval Latin used it for verdure and green foliage, for the unripeness of crops, for vitality and freshness, also spiritual, and for the colour green.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the green of meadows and of youthful vigour.^[2][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the green of the sea.^[2][3]
• 1241 – An English court record uses it of crops left unharvested because they were unripe.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The fresh green colour of plants, greenness; green vegetation, verdure.^[2][4]
2. Greenness of other things, such as the sea.^[2]
3. (figurative) Youthful liveliness, freshness, vigour.^[2][4]
4. (Medieval Latin) Unripeness of crops.^[5]

Related words

• English viridity

References

1. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c 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