σέλινον Ancient Greek · revision 2282

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=Mycenaean (Linear B)|origins=qfa-sub-grc}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /sé.liː.non/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈse.li.non/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈse.li.non/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''σέλῑνον''' (sélīnon) ''n'' (genitive σελῑ́νου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Aeolic [[σέλιννον|tr=sélinnon]] (grammarians).^(Beekes 2010)^(LSJ 1940)

+ [[gmy|se-ri-no]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It has no acceptable etymology and is probably a foreign word, like [[κύμινον|tr=kúminon]] and [[ῥητίνη|tr=rhētínē]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Beekes marks it as possibly Pre-Greek, [[der|qfa-sub-grc|-]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Strömberg connected it with [[σέλμα|tr=sélma]] “deck plank” and [[σελίς|tr=selís]] “crossbeam”, after the coarse hollow stalk.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Furnée compared [[gmy|sa-ri-nu-wo-te]], which would point to a form *σάλινον and so to a Pre-Greek origin.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mycenaean tablets have se-ri-no.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) In Homer the plant, probably water-parsley or wild celery, grows in marshy ground (''Iliad'' 2.776, ''Odyssey'' 5.72).^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Herodotus mentions its seed, and Theophrastus and Dioscorides describe the plant.^(LSJ 1940) It was mostly planted in garden borders, hence the proverb in Aristophanes “you are not even in the celery or the rue yet”, of something scarcely begun.^(LSJ 1940) Its leaves were woven into garlands (Anacreon, Theocritus), above all the victors' crowns at the Isthmian and Nemean games (Pindar).^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Such garlands were also hung on tombs, so that someone dangerously ill was said to “need the celery” (Plutarch).^(LSJ 1940) Photius and Hesychius record it for the female genitals.^(LSJ 1940)^(Hesychius)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ The compound [[πετροσέλινον|tr=petrosélinon]] “rock celery” (Dioscorides) was borrowed as [[la|petroselīnum]], and through Medieval Latin petrosilium it gave [[de|Petersilie]].^(Beekes 2010) The river and town name [[Σελινοῦς|tr=Selinoûs]] is derived from the plant.^(Beekes 2010) Medieval Greek used it for celery as a vegetable and a medicine and for the victors' wreath at Nemea, and it continues as [[el|σέλινο|tr=sélino]].^(Kriaras)^(Wiktionary) [[en|celery]] came in the 1660s through French céleri, said to be from Lombard seleri, from Late Latin selinon.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mycenaean – se-ri-no on the Linear B tablets.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+ * Homer – the plant grows in marshy meadows.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 6th century BC – Anacreon mentions celery garlands.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Pindar names the celery crowns of the Isthmian and Nemean games.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus mentions its seed.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – Dioscorides has πετροσέλινον, “rock celery”.^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 1660s – English ''celery'', through French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Wild [[m|en|celery]], ''Apium graveolens''.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)

+ # ''(plural)'' A garland of celery, especially the prize at the Nemean and Isthmian games.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(with ἄγριον)'' Wild celery, a name of several other plants.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(Photius)'' The female genitals.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[πετροσέλινον|tr=petrosélīnon]]

+ * [[Σελινοῦς|tr=Selīnoûs]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|petroselīnum]]

+ * [[en|celery]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}