cucurbita Latin · revision 36295

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kʊˈkʊr.bɪ.ta]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cucurbita''' ''f'' (genitive cucurbitae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably a loanword.^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan compares [[m|la|cucumis|t=cucumber]], which begins with the same ⟨cucu-⟩ and has a similar meaning;^(de Vaan 2008) Etymonline also suggests a source outside Indo-European and a link with that word.^(Etymonline) The TLL and Wiktionary compare [[sa|चिर्भट|tr=cirbhaṭa|t=long melon]],^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) and the TLL also mentions [[ang|hwerhwette|t=cucumber]].^(TLL) Köbler calls the origin unclear.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Varro on, for the [[m|en|gourd]],^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) but the derivative ''cucurbitīvus'', a kind of pear or fig, already occurs in Cato.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it named the gourd, the fruit and the plant;^(OLD 2012) ''cucurbita silvestris'', the wild gourd, was the [[m|en|colocynth]], and Pliny the Elder uses the word for fruits shaped like gourds.^(OLD 2012) From its shape, physicians such as Celsus called a [[m|en|cupping glass]] ''cucurbita'',^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Petronius uses it of a dull person, a “pumpkin-head”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In Late Latin it also named the bryony and the colocynth, with adjectives meaning “wild”, and in New Latin the squashes and pumpkins of the New World.^(Wiktionary) A medieval source gives it as a masculine noun meaning “cuckold”.^(Niermeyer 1976) Through Anglo-French and Old French it gave English [[m|en|gourd]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato has the derivative ''cucurbitīvus''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it for the gourd.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it for a cupping glass.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * c. 1300 – English [[m|en|gourd]], from Anglo-French, is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|gourd]], the fruit or the plant;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''cucurbita silvestris'', the [[m|en|colocynth]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

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

+ # A [[m|en|dolt]], a “pumpkin-head”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' [[m|en|bryony|alt=Bryony]] or colocynth, with an adjective meaning “wild”.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|cuckold]] (as a masculine noun).^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(New Latin)'' A [[m|en|squash]] or [[m|en|pumpkin]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cucurbitarius]]

+ * [[cucurbitatio]]

+ * [[cucurbitīnus]]

+ * [[cucurbitula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cucurbitulāris]]

+ * [[cucumis]]

+ * [[en|gourd]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}