scorpio Latin · revision 34140

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=grc σκορπίος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈskɔr.pi.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈskɔr.pi.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scorpiō''' ''m'' (genitive scorpiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Poets also use ''scorpius'' and ''scorpios'', closer to the Greek.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|σκορπίος|tr=skorpíos|t=scorpion]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) with the ending ⟨-iō, -iōnis⟩ perhaps modelled on [[m|la|stēlliō]] and [[m|la|pāpiliō]].^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short also compare [[m|grc|σκορπίων|tr=skorpíōn]].^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler and Etymonline connect it with [[ine-pro|*sker-|t=to cut]].^(Köbler 2010)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The earliest quotation in the OLD is from Cato's work on farming, where a recipe adds one scorpion and six snails;^(OLD 2012) Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Celsus writes that the scorpion is itself the best remedy for its sting, and Pliny the Elder describes land scorpions as a plague that kills slowly over three days.^(OLD 2012) Varro uses the name of the constellation and zodiac sign, saying that the first day of winter falls with the sun in Scorpio.^(OLD 2012) Pliny also uses it of a spiny sea fish, probably a scorpionfish, and of two plants.^(OLD 2012) In military use it is a small quick-firing catapult for arrows: Caesar tells how a man was struck by a ''scorpiō'' and the next to take his place was killed by another,^(OLD 2012) and Sallust has a letter shot into a camp by one.^(OLD 2012) Surveyors used the word for a heap of stones marking a boundary.^(OLD 2012) In Ecclesiastical Latin it is also an instrument of torture, a whip,^(Stelten 1995) and in medieval Latin a leaded scourge.^(Niermeyer 1976) English ''scorpion'' comes from it through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato names the animal in a recipe.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the constellation.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a catapult.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a sea fish and of plants.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1200 – English [[m|en|scorpion]] is recorded, from Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

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

+ # ''(astronomy)'' The [[m|en|constellation]] and zodiac sign Scorpio.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''scorpiō marīnus'': a spiny sea fish, probably the [[m|en|scorpionfish]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The name of certain plants, among them a leafless shrub.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(military)'' A small quick-firing [[m|en|catapult]] for arrows.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(surveying)'' A heap of stones used as a boundary mark.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' An instrument of torture, a whip;^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976) ''(Medieval Latin)'' a leaded [[m|en|scourge]].^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scorpionius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scorpaena]]

+ * [[scorpiacum]]

+ * [[scorpioctonon]]

+ * [[scorpītis]]

+ * [[scorpiūrus]]

+ * [[scorpius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}