cicer Latin · revision 33761

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkɪ.kɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈt͡ʃiː.t͡ʃer]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cicer''' ''n'' (genitive ciceris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*kiker-]] and compares [[xcl|սիսեռն|tr=siseṙn|t=chickpea]], [[sq|thjer|t=lentil]] and [[grc|κίκερροι|tr=kíkerroi|t=pale]], a gloss in Hesychius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) The Latin and Albanian forms might come from [[ine-pro|*ḱerh₃-|t=to feed]], as Jokl proposed, but the Armenian word rather points with Latin to a loan from an unknown source.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary calls it a wandering word of unknown origin.^(Wiktionary) De Vaan rejects a link with [[grc|κριός|tr=kriós|t=ram; a kind of chickpea]], named after the curve of its pod.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in the ''Bacchides''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the chickpea, a common food.^(OLD 2012) Varro says the word is used only in the singular.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short also cite it from Horace, Persius, Petronius, Columella and Pliny the Elder.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Juvenal uses it, apparently in an obscene sense, of the testicles or the penis.^(OLD 2012) It lived on in Old French as ''chiche'', which gave English ''chich'', later [[m|en|chickpea]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has the word.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro notes that it has no plural.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace has the word.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal, in an obscene sense.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – English ''chich'', through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|chickpea]], ''Cicer arietinum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obscene)'' The [[m|en|testicle|alt=testicles]], or perhaps the penis.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cicera]]

+ * [[cicerculum]]

+ * [[cicercula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Cicerō]]

+ * [[en|chickpea]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}