aconitum Latin · revision 34255

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=70–19 BC, Virgil|origins=grc ἀκόνιτον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [a.kɔˈniː.tũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [a.koˈniː.tum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''aconītum''' ''n'' (genitive aconītī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''aconīton'', with the Greek accusative ''aconiton'' in Ovid; the poets use only the plural ''aconīta'', except Ovid once.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|ἀκόνιτον|tr=akóniton|t=wolfsbane]].^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) Köbler calls the further origin of the Greek word unknown.^(Köbler 2010) The ancients explained it from a Greek word meaning “without dust”, hence “without a struggle”, invincible in its deadly effect;^(Etymonline) Etymonline reports that Beekes finds this hardly possible and proposes a substrate origin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Virgil,^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Georgics'' mention ''aconita'' among the herbs that do not deceive those who gather them.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It names a poisonous plant, the aconite, which the OLD calls unidentified and Georges identifies with several species of the genus ''Aconitum'', especially monkshood.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) From the plant it came to mean the poison made from it, and in the poets any quick poison: Ovid has terrible stepmothers mixing ''lurida aconita'', and Juvenal speaks of someone who gave aconite to three uncles.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) Ancient writers offered several explanations of the name: Ovid tells that it sprang from the foam of Cerberus and grows on hard rock, so that country people call it ''aconita'';^(TLL) Pliny the Elder says it grows on bare rocks called ''aconae'', nourished not even by dust, or that its force in killing is like the whetstone's on iron;^(TLL) Servius derives it from the Greek word for a whetstone.^(TLL) Pliny also mentions the harbour of Acone, dreaded for the aconite poison, and Isidore of Seville takes the name from Acone, a harbour of Bithynia so known for harmful herbs.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012) English took the word from French in the 1570s as [[m|en|aconite]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil mentions ''aconita'' in the ''Georgics''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a poison and tells a story of its origin.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the plant and the explanations of its name.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville takes the name from the harbour of Acone.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1570s – English borrows it, through French, as [[m|en|aconite|alt=aconite]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A poisonous plant, [[m|en|aconite]], [[m|en|monkshood]], [[m|en|wolfsbane]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A poison made from this plant; in the poets, any strong [[m|en|poison]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}