urtica Latin · revision 33385

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ʊrˈtiː.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [urˈtiː.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''urtīca''' ''f'' (genitive urtīcae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The OLD calls its origin doubtful,^(OLD 2012) and Wiktionary unknown.^(Wiktionary) Lewis & Short, Georges and Köbler connect it with [[m|la|ūrō|t=to burn]],^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010) but Wiktionary reports that Ernout and Meillet reject this as a folk etymology, since that verb had a stem in /s/ and should have given a form like ⟨*ūstīca⟩.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) who has the sea creature: ''captamus conchas, marinam urticam, musculos'', “we catch shellfish, sea nettles, mussels”.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The plant is in Catullus, who says he cured a cough with rest and nettle.^(OLD 2012) Ovid mentions its seed in an [[m|en|aphrodisiac]], Celsus whipping numb limbs with nettles, and Horace and Persius eating it as a vegetable.^(OLD 2012) Pliny the Elder describes the sea nettles that move about at night and sting like the nettle on land.^(OLD 2012) Juvenal applied it to lust and the things that excite it.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Medieval writers in Britain name kinds of nettle: ''urtica Graeca'' for the annual nettle, and ''urtica mortua'' or ''urtica archangelica'' for the [[m|en|deadnettle]].^(DMLBS) Aldhelm wrote a riddle titled ''Urtica''.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, the sea nettle.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus, the stinging nettle.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes land and sea nettles.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal, of lust.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 639–709 AD – Aldhelm's riddle on the nettle.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The stinging [[m|en|nettle]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(also ''urtica marina'')'' A sea creature with stinging organs, a [[m|en|jellyfish]] or [[m|en|sea anemone]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Figuratively, [[m|en|lust]], a sexual itch.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' With a qualifier, other plants: ''urtica Graeca'', annual nettle;^(DMLBS) ''urtica mortua'', deadnettle.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ūrō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An ancient glossary gives the Greek [[m|grc|ἀσκαλάφη|tr=askaláphē]] for ''urtica marina''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}