narcissus Latin · revision 34546

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''narcissus''' ''m'' (genitive narcissī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|νάρκισσος|tr=nárkissos]].^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) Köbler thinks the Greek word is probably itself a loanword.^(Köbler 2010) Isidore of Seville, as the TLL reports, explains the plant's name from the fable of the boy Narcissus.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found in Virgil's ''Eclogues'',^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) meaning the [[m|en|narcissus]] flower.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Virgil has the purple narcissus, the late-flowering narcissus and the “tear” of the narcissus.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) Celsus mentions its seed and root, and Pliny the Elder describes the plant.^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Medieval writers in Britain use it for the narcissus, an Old English gloss rendering it ''halswyrt'', and also as a personal name.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil names the flower in the ''Eclogues'' and ''Georgics''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses its seed and root in remedies.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains the name from the myth.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|narcissus]], a flower.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[narcissinus]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|narcissus]]

+ * [[it|narciso]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ [[Narcissus]] is the mythical son of Cephisus and the nymph Liriope, who fell in love with his own beauty; the name was also borne by a rich freedman of the emperor Claudius.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}