vulva

Forms

vulva f (genitive vulvae); first declension^[1] It is also spelled ⟨volva⟩, the head Lewis & Short and Georges use.^[2][3][4] Other spellings are ⟨vulba⟩ and ⟨bulba⟩.^[1][5]

Etymology

It is, probably, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind”).^[1] It is usually connected with volvō (“to roll, wind”): Köbler refers it to that verb, and de Vaan cross-refers it to his entry for that verb, which he derives from Proto-Indo-European *uel-u- (“to wind”).^[5][6] The OLD and Wiktionary compare Sanskrit उल्ब (ulba, “womb, membrane”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Varro,^[5] who uses it of the womb in his work on farming.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is the womb, in women and in animals:^[2][7] Celsus describes the womb of young girls as very small, and Seneca and Pliny the Elder mention its ailments and remedies for them.^[2] A sow's womb was a prized dish:^[2][7] Horace says nothing is finer than an ample vulva, and Celsus, Martial and Juvenal mention it as food.^[2] Gaffiot also cites Naevius, quoted by Macrobius, for this dish.^[7] Persius and Juvenal use it coarsely of the female sexual organ,^[2] and Pliny the Elder of the outer covering of a fungus.^[7][8]

In Christian Latin a vulva means from birth, as in the Psalms of the Vulgate, and Tertullian uses de vulva cordis, from the depths of the heart, figuratively.^[8] Medieval Latin used it chiefly of the vagina.^[1]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the womb.^[7][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace praises a sow's womb as a dish.^[2][5]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus describes the womb of young girls.^[2][5]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of the female sexual organ.^[2][5]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it figuratively of the depths of the heart.^[8][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses a vulva, “from birth”.^[8][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The womb, uterus.^[2][3]
2. A sow's womb eaten as a delicacy.^[2][7]
3. The female sexual organ, the vulva.^[2]
4. The outer covering of a fungus.^[7][8]
5. (Medieval Latin) The vagina.^[1]

Word family

• volvula
• vulvula

Related words

• volvō

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 j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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 h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier