Etymologically
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vulva

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈwʊɫ.wa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈvul.va][1]

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

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