pirus Latin · revision 33720

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=la pirum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈpɪ.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈpiː.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pirus''' ''f'' (genitive pirī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Manuscripts also spell it ''perus'' and ''pyrus''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|pirum|t=pear]], the name of the fruit.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan takes [[m|la|pirum]] as a loanword from a Mediterranean language, like [[grc|ἄπιον|tr=ápion|t=pear]];^(de Vaan 2008) a derivation of both from a PIE ⟨*h₂pis-o-⟩ does not explain the Latin ⟨i⟩.^(de Vaan 2008) Isidore derived the name from Greek “fire”, since the fruit is shaped like a flame, broad below and narrow above.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the pear tree, as in Virgil's “graft your pear trees now, Meliboeus”.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder discusses it among the trees,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Macrobius lists it among the fruitful trees, ''arborēs fēlīcēs''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato has the word.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, of grafting pear trees.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of the pear tree.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pear]] tree.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pirum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}