malva Latin · revision 36974

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=116–27 BC, Varro}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmaɫ.wa]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmal.va]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''malva''' ''f'' (genitive malvae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Diocletian's price edict has the spelling ''malba''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably a borrowing from a Mediterranean language, perhaps a Semitic one: de Vaan compares [[hbo|מַלּוּחַ|tr=mallū́aḥ|t=saltbush]] and points to the varying vowels of [[grc|μαλάχη|tr=malákhē|t=mallow]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The TLL likewise derives both the Latin and the Greek word from a Mediterranean language, perhaps Semitic.^(TLL) Köbler calls it a substrate word of the Mediterranean.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ Varro derived it from the Greek word,^(TLL)^(Varro) and Isidore of Seville from [[m|grc|μαλάσσω|tr=malássō|t=to soften]], because the plant softens and loosens the bowels.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Cinna and Varro,^(Köbler 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) meaning the [[m|en|mallow]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Cicero, Horace, Ovid and Martial mention the mallow,^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879) which the ancients used as a mild laxative.^(Georges 1913) Pliny the Elder praises both the cultivated and the wild kind, and reports that the Greeks call one ''malope'' and named the other ''malache'' from its softening the belly.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ British Medieval Latin used it for the marsh mallow and the hollyhock and qualified it as ''agrestis'', ''silvestris'' or ''erratica'' for wild kinds.^(DMLBS) Through Old French ''mauve'' it gave the name of the dye [[m|en|mauve]] (1859).^(Etymonline) It survives in Italian ''malva''.^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it and derives it from Greek.^(Conte 2010)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions it in a letter.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace mentions it in the ''Odes''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes its kinds.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains its name.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1859 – English ''mauve'', from it through French, names an aniline dye.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|mallow]] plant.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The [[m|en|marsh mallow]], [[m|en|hollyhock]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|mallow]]

+ * [[en|mauve]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}