murex Latin · revision 32647

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmuː.rɛks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmuː.reks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mūrex''' ''m'' (genitive mūricis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Pliny the Elder has ''mūrix''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan thinks it may belong with [[m|la|mūs|t=mouse]], since [[m|la|mūsculus]] also means a mussel; or it may be a loanword, related to [[grc|μύαξ|tr=múax|t=sea mussel]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary suggests that both come from a Mediterranean substrate language.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Ennius, whose poem on fine foods, quoted by Apuleius, names the purple shellfish.^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan and the OLD cite Lucilius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the shellfish that yields the purple dye, also eaten: Horace has the murex of Baiae.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Its spiny shell had many uses: Ovid has a grotto roof set with shells and murex in turn, and Valerius Flaccus has Tritons blowing it as a trumpet.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From the shape it is a sharp rock, on which oars crash in Virgil, and an iron caltrop scattered round a town.^(OLD 2012) It is also the purple dye and purple cloth: Virgil has a cloak glowing with Tyrian purple.^(OLD 2012) Pliny the Elder has the form ⟨mūrix⟩.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of the purple shellfish.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a sharp rock and of Tyrian purple.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of shells in a grotto.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|murex]], the purple-fish, a shellfish that yields a purple dye.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Its spiny shell; a sharp rock;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''mūrex ferreus'', a [[m|en|caltrop]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The purple dye; purple cloth; a purple colour.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mūricātus]]

+ * [[mūriculus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|murex]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}