verbena Latin · revision 33465

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius|origins=itc-pro *werbos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [wɛrˈbeː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [verˈbɛː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''verbēna''' ''f'' (genitive verbēnae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It goes back to ⟨*werbes-na⟩,^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) a derivative of the s-stem that also gives [[m|la|verbera|t=lashes, rods]]; de Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*werbos|t=twig, whip]] and perhaps [[ine-pro|*uerb(h)-es-]].^(de Vaan 2008) The Baltic and Slavic words for “twig” and “stick”, such as [[lt|vir̃bas|t=stick, twig]] and [[lv|virbs|t=small stick]], may come from the same root.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Servius derived it from greenness, ⟨a viriditāte⟩.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found first in Naevius,^(de Vaan 2008) who has ''scopās atque verbēnās sagmina sumpsērunt'', of twigs and boughs taken up for a religious ceremony.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is mostly used in the plural, of the leafy branches of laurel, olive, myrtle and other aromatic plants used in religious rites;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Servius says that all sacred foliage was called ''verbēnae''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The fetials carried them,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and they appear in sacrifices in Plautus, Terence, Horace, Ovid and Virgil.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Celsus uses the word for leaves used in medicine as cooling remedies,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Columella of seaweed covering rocks.^(OLD 2012) English took ''vervain'' from it through Old French in about 1300, and ''verbena'' directly in the 1560s as a plant name.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of sacred boughs.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions it in a sacrifice.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of medicinal leaves.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella uses it of seaweed.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 400 AD – Servius explains it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English borrows ''vervain'' through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A leafy [[m|en|bough|alt=branch]] or twig of an aromatic plant such as [[m|en|laurel]], olive or myrtle, used in religious rites.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Such leaves used in [[m|en|medicine]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A growth of [[m|en|seaweed]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[verbera]]

+ * [[verberō#1]]

+ * [[en|verbena]]

+ * [[en|vervain]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}