medulla Latin · revision 31447

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [mɛˈdʊl.la]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [meˈdul.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''medulla''' ''f'' (genitive medullae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) It may be [[inh|itc-pro|*(s)meru-lo-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*smer-u-|t=marrow]], the source de Vaan prefers: it fits the meaning best but needs a change of /r/ to /d/, the opposite of what one would expect; he suggests it could be a hypercorrection.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognates would be [[sga|smiur|t=marrow]], [[cy|mer|t=marrow]] and [[ang|smeoru|t=fat]];^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) Thurneysen, in the TLL, set up an original ⟨*merulla⟩.^(TLL) Lewis and Short, and others before them, derived it from [[m|la|medius|t=middle]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who has “I am done for, weariness has soaked into my marrow” in the ''Stichus'';^(OLD 2012) Ennius has “the marrow of Persuasion”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the marrow of the bones, usually in the plural, as Varro's dogs made fiercer by the taste of marrow, and similar soft substances.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively it is one's inmost part or vitals, as in Plautus, and the depths of the mind and heart, as Cicero's men who clung to the marrow and heart of the Roman people.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) It is the pith of a plant, as Cato's vine split through the pith, the kernel of a nut, as in Petronius, the inner part of anything, as Catullus' heart of the mountain, and the essence or quintessence, as in Ennius.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “marrow, finest part”.^(Stelten 1995) English took it in the 1670s for the hindmost part of the brain.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of weariness in the marrow.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of the “marrow of Persuasion”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato of the pith of a vine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the heart of the Roman people.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1670s – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|medulla]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|marrow]] of the bones.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # One's inmost part; the depths of the mind or heart.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|pith]] of a plant; the kernel of a nut.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The inner part, interior.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The essence, [[m|en|quintessence]], finest part.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[medullāris]]

+ * [[medullitus]]

+ * [[medullo]]

+ * [[medullōsus]]

+ * [[medullula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[medius]]

+ * [[en|medulla]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}