margarita Latin · revision 33196

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1st century BC, Varro and Cicero|origins=grc μαργαρίτης}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [mar.ɡaˈriː.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [mar.ɡaˈriː.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''margarīta''' ''f'' (genitive margarītae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Also neuter ''margarītum'', rare and not in Cicero.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The OLD enters only the feminine.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|μαργαρίτης|tr=margarítēs|t=pearl]], with [[m|grc|λίθος|tr=líthos|t=stone]] understood.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Etymonline) Köbler calls the Greek word an oriental loanword.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Varro has it, and Cicero, in the speeches against Verres, says that there was no gem or pearl that he did not take.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the pearl.^(OLD 2012) Cicero speaks of an ornament of pearls, the ''Digest'' of a string of pearls, and Pliny the Elder of British pearls.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Tacitus says that the Ocean produces pearls, using the neuter.^(Lewis & Short 1879) As a term of endearment Augustus called Maecenas his “pearl of the Tiber”, and Petronius has it too.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The Vulgate's Gospel of Matthew has the one pearl of great price and the saying ''ne mittatis margaritas vestras ante porcos'', “do not cast your pearls before swine”.^(Lewis & Short 1879) British medieval writers took up both images, Gildas and Aldhelm of pearls trampled by swine and Alcuin of the pearl bought by selling everything; they also used it for something precious, for Christ and for saints.^(DMLBS) As a woman's name, Late Latin ''Margarīta'' gave English [[m|en|Margaret]] through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro has the word.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of stolen pearls in the speeches against Verres.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of pearls of the Ocean.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate, “pearls before swine”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English [[m|en|Margaret]], from the Late Latin name through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pearl]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A term of endearment, “pearl, treasure”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Something precious;^(DMLBS) Christ; a saint or a saint's relics.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[margarītārius]]

+ * [[margarītātus]]

+ * [[margarīticandicans]]

+ * [[margarītifer]]

+ * [[margarītum]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[margarītion]]

+ * [[gemma]]

+ * [[unio]]

+ * [[en|Margaret]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}