murra Latin · revision 36846

+ {{homograph|1|myrrh}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=grc μύρρα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmʊr.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmur.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''murra''' ''f'' (genitive murrae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''myrrha'' and ''murrha'';^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short call these less correct.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The myrrh is [[bor|grc|μύρρα|tr=múrrhā|t=myrrh]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) which Wiktionary calls of Semitic origin.^(Wiktionary) Saalfeld connects it with [[m|grc|σμύρνα|tr=smúrna]].^(Saalfeld 1874) The grammarian Priscian notes that the old Romans wrote ⟨mu-⟩ for the Greek ⟨μυ-⟩.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found first in Plautus, of a breath that smells of myrrh.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Myrrh was an aromatic gum: Vitruvius speaks of lumps of it, Celsus of its use to close wounds, and Pliny the Elder names frankincense and myrrh as the chief products of Arabia.^(OLD 2012) It served as an ointment for the hair, in Propertius and Ovid,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) and was burnt at funerals, in Martial and Apuleius.^(OLD 2012) The word also named the tree that yields it: in Pliny the Sabaeans cook their food over the wood of frankincense or of myrrh,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) and Columella uses it of an aromatic herb, the same as [[m|la|myrrhis]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Christian writers read it as a sign of bitterness: Jerome glosses it so in his psalm homilies, and Isidore repeats the idea.^(TLL) Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for myrrh and the myrrh tree.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a breath that smells of myrrh.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of hair wet with myrrh.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the tree.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella uses it of an aromatic herb.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|myrrh|alt=Myrrh]], an aromatic [[m|en|gum]] used in ointments and burnt at funerals.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The tree that yields myrrh.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # An aromatic herb, [[m|en|sweet cicely]] (= [[m|la|myrrhis]]).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[murrātus]]

+ * [[murreus#1]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|murrine stone}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=39–65 AD, Lucan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmʊr.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmur.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''murra''' ''f'' (genitive murrae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The stone's name is of Asian origin according to the OLD and the TLL, which compare [[grc|μόρρια|tr=mórrhia|t=murrine vessels]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) Köbler and Wiktionary call it Iranian, Köbler comparing a Persian word for a small glass bead.^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary) The ancients connected it with the word for myrrh, but the TLL holds that the two are different words.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The earliest example is in Lucan, for a cup made of it: people revived by plain water do not drink from gold and ''murra''.^(TLL)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a highly prized mineral from which cups and vases were made, probably [[m|en|fluorspar]] and perhaps also [[m|en|agate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Martial speaks of spotted cups of ''murra'' and contrasts drinking from glass with drinking from ''murra'',^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) and Statius has Earinus carrying cups, ''murrae'' and crystal.^(TLL)

+

+ In medieval Britain the word was used of [[m|en|maple]] wood, from which drinking bowls were made; inventories of the 13th and 14th centuries list cups ''de murra'' with silver feet.^(DMLBS) Niermeyer gives both the maple wood and a [[m|en|mazer]] bowl.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 39–65 AD – Lucan uses it of cups.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of spotted cups and the material.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1276 – A British record lists a cup of maple wood with a silver foot.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A costly mineral from which vessels were made, probably [[m|en|fluorspar]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(metonymy)'' A cup made of it, a [[m|en|murrine]] vessel.^(TLL)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|maple|alt=Maple]] wood; a mazer, a maple-wood bowl.^(DMLBS)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[murreus#2]]

+ * [[murrinus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}