nitrum Latin · revision 36790

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Caelius, in Cicero's correspondence|origins=grc νίτρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈnɪ.trũː], [ˈnɪt.rũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈniː.trum], [ˈnit.rum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nitrum''' ''n'' (genitive nitrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|νίτρον|tr=nítron]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) The OLD and Köbler take the Greek word to be ultimately of Egyptian origin,^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) while Wiktionary gives it a Semitic source.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's earliest source is Cicero:^(Köbler 2010) in a letter to him Caelius writes that the censorship is a scouring powder or a [[m|en|soda]] (''cēnsūram lōmentum aut nitrum esse''), a means of cleaning things up.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word named various natural alkalis, above all soda and potash, and probably seldom the modern nitre.^(OLD 2012) Virgil has seeds soaked in it before sowing,^(Lewis 1890)^(Conte 2010) Vitruvius speaks of the ''flōs nitrī'',^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) and Pliny the Elder describes where it is found and calls it ''sāl nitrum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) It was used for washing, as in the Vulgate's ''lāveris tē nitrō'' (“though you wash yourself with soda”).^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In medieval Britain Bede says that it takes its name from the province of Nitria and that it serves both to heal and to wash away dirt, and a later glossary renders it as fuller's clay.^(DMLBS) It survives in [[it|nitro]], [[es|nitro]] and [[fr|nitre]].^(Wiktionary)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil has seeds soaked in it.^(Lewis 1890)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius names the ''flōs nitrī''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes its sources and uses.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of washing.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * first third of the 8th century AD – Bede derives its name from Nitria.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A name for various natural [[m|en|alkali|alt=alkalis]], especially [[m|en|soda]] and [[m|en|potash]]; native [[m|en|natron]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A cleansing agent, something that scours away faults.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|fuller's earth|alt=Fuller's clay]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nitrāria]]

+ * [[nitrātus]]

+ * [[nitreus]]

+ * [[nitrōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|nitre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Spūma nitrī'' was probably a finer form of the substance.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}