ruta Latin · revision 34438

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈruː.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈruː.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''rūta''' ''f'' (genitive rūtae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Lucilius has the archaic genitive ''rutai''.^(Georges 1913)

+ Ovid uses the plural ''rutae''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|ῥυτή|tr=rhutḗ|t=rue]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary describes the Greek word as Peloponnesian in origin,^(Wiktionary) and Köbler calls its further origin unclear.^(Köbler 2010) Varro, discussing the Latin name, says that the plant is now called [[m|grc|πήγανον|tr=pḗganon]].^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cato names it in his work on farming.^(Conte 2010) Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the strong-smelling herb rue, which Columella, Celsus and Pliny the Elder mention in gardening and medicine.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Cicero uses it figuratively for bitterness: of a visitor he expects, he writes that against that man's rue he will need the pennyroyal of his correspondent's talk.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Petronius has the joking phrase ''in rutae folium conicere'', “to throw into a rue leaf”, that is, to defeat someone utterly.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Ecclesiastical Latin keeps the herb.^(Stelten 1995) Wiktionary lists its descendants in the Romance languages, among them Italian ruta and French rue, from which English took [[m|en|rue]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato names the herb.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it figuratively for bitterness.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella writes about growing it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 66 AD – Petronius has ''in rutae folium conicere''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The herb [[m|en|rue]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' [[m|en|bitterness|alt=Bitterness]], unpleasantness.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''in rūtae folium conicere'': to defeat completely.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rutaceus]]

+ * [[rūtātus]]

+ * [[rūtula]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The neuter plural ''rūta'' in the legal phrase ''rūta (et) caesa'', “things dug up and cut down”, meaning minerals and timber already quarried and felled when an estate was sold, has a separate origin: it belongs with [[ruō]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}