boletus Latin · revision 36844

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=4 BC–65 AD, Seneca|origins=grc βωλίτης}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [boːˈɫeː.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [boˈlɛː.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bōlētus''' ''m'' (genitive bōlētī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|βωλίτης|tr=bōlítēs|t=a kind of mushroom]],^(Wiktionary)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) although the OLD marks its origin as doubtful^(OLD 2012) and Köbler calls it unclear.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL's record begins with Seneca,^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) who describes diners who swallow mushrooms burning hot and then cool them with snow-chilled drinks, and calls them a “pleasurable poison”.^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) Lewis & Short also cite a line of Plautus' ''Curculio''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is nearly always found in the plural.^(TLL) The Romans counted it the best kind of edible [[m|en|mushroom]]:^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Petronius has seed of mushrooms sent for from India, and Martial lists it with oysters and mullets.^(TLL) Pliny the Elder lists it among foods eaten rashly, citing the poison given to the emperor Claudius by Agrippina,^(TLL) a story told also by Tacitus, Suetonius and Juvenal.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ The glossaries make it any [[m|en|fungus]],^(TLL) and medieval writers used it of fungi in general and of particular kinds, among them the Caesar's mushroom, the chanterelle and the larch polypore.^(MLW) The word lives on in Italian ''boleto''.^(TLL)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of mushrooms eaten hot at table.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 66 AD – Petronius speaks of mushroom seed from India.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder connects it with the poisoning of Claudius.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial lists it with oysters and mullets.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|mushroom]], the most valued kind of edible fungus.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Any [[m|en|fungus]]; also a particular kind, such as the chanterelle.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bōlētar]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The DMLBS records a separate, doubtful ''boletus'' “frayed cloth” from a 15th-century word list, which it compares with ''buletellus''.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}