myrteus Latin · revision 34678

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmyr.te.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmir.te.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''myrteus''' (feminine myrtea, neuter myrteum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Also spelled ''murteus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|myrtus|-eus|t1=myrtle]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) The noun is [[bor|grc|μύρτος|tr=múrtos|t=myrtle]];^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Pliny the Elder already noted that the tree kept its Greek name.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found first in Cato's ''De agri cultura'', of myrtle rods and of myrtle wine.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Virgil has a myrtle wood in the underworld, Ovid and Martial myrtle trees, and Celsus compares a shape to a myrtle leaf.^(OLD 2012) Varro mentions a shrine of Venus with the title ''Myrtea''.^(OLD 2012) It is used of myrtle wreaths in Tibullus and Ovid, and of a myrtle crown in Valerius Maximus and Gellius;^(OLD 2012) Paulus' epitome of Festus explains that Papirius wore a myrtle crown because he had defeated the Sardinians on the Myrtean plains.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cato and Pliny the Elder speak of myrtle wine, and Pliny and Celsus of myrtle oil, the neuter ''myrteum'' alone standing for the oil.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It also described colour, dark green like the leaves or brown like the bark: Petronius has a cloak of myrtle colour.^(OLD 2012) Columella names a variety of olive with it, and Cloatius a pear.^(OLD 2012) An Old English glossary renders it with a word for purple, and Osbern of Gloucester derives it from [[myrtus|alt=mirtus]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of myrtle rods and myrtle wine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro mentions the shrine of Venus Myrtea.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil writes of a myrtle wood.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella names a variety of olive with it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of a colour.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a [[m|en|myrtle]] tree or myrtle trees;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) made of myrtle leaves; made from myrtle berries.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''oleum myrteum'' or ''myrteum'', myrtle oil.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Resembling the myrtle in colour, dark green or brown;^(OLD 2012) ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|purple]].^(DMLBS)

+ # The name of varieties of fruit, a pear and an olive.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[myrtus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}