ferula Latin · revision 34297

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=116–27 BC, Varro}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfɛ.rʊ.ɫa]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈfɛː.ru.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ferula''' ''f'' (genitive ferulae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) Assuming that the giant fennel was named for its long stalks, de Vaan and the OLD suggest a connection with [[m|la|festūca|t=stalk, straw]], with the same stem in each; there is no further etymology.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler find it first in Varro,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who mentions beehives made of fennel stalks.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the giant fennel, ''Ferula communis'', and its stalk;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Lewis & Short note that Prometheus was said to have kept the stolen fire in its pith.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Vitruvius uses it for a group of plants, saying that the laser grew among them at Cyrene,^(OLD 2012) and Virgil shows Silvanus shaking flowering fennel.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ The stalk gave the sense of a stick or rod, above all for punishment: Horace contrasts beating with the ''ferula'' with heavier floggings, and Juvenal and Martial use it too.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein sets it apart from [[fūstis]], a club heavy enough to kill, as a little stick or cane for chastising schoolboys.^(Döderlein 1874) It was also a walking stick, and in Celsus a splint for broken bones;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder uses it for the unbranched horns of a young stag.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin used it for a wand or long staff,^(Stelten 1995) and medieval Latin for a crutch and for a bishop's [[m|en|crosier]].^(Niermeyer 1976) English took the word in the late 14th century for the fennel plant; its later form [[m|en|ferule]], a rod for punishing children, dates from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro has hives made from fennel stalks.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil has Silvanus with flowering fennel.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a cane for punishment.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of a splint.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the horns of a young stag.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It means a crutch and a crosier.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ * late 14th century – English borrows it for the fennel plant;^(Etymonline) ''ferule'', a rod, follows in the 1590s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The giant [[m|en|fennel]], ''Ferula communis''; a fennel stalk.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A stick or [[m|en|rod]], especially for punishing slaves or schoolboys, a [[m|en|cane]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A walking stick, a staff.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A [[m|en|splint]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The unbranched horn of a young [[m|en|stag]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|crutch]]; a [[m|en|crosier]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ferulāceus]]

+ * [[ferulago]]

+ * [[ferularis]]

+ * [[feruleus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[festūca]]

+ * [[en|ferule]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein groups it with the words for sticks: ''fustis'' and ''ferula'' are for striking, [[sudēs]] and ''rudis'' for thrusting, and [[scīpiō]] and [[baculus]] for walking.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}