cucumis Latin · revision 36975

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkʊ.kʊ.mɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈkuː.ku.mis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cucumis''' ''m'' (genitive cucumeris or cucumis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Pliny the Elder also inflects it as an i-stem: accusative ''cucumin'' or ''cucumim'', genitive ''cucumis'', dative and ablative ''cucumi'', accusative plural ''cucumis''.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ The grammarian Caper rejected a nominative ''cucumer'',^(Georges 1913) which is common in Medieval Latin.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably a loanword from a non-Indo-European language.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan suggests an original form like ⟨kuku(m)-⟩ and compares [[grc|κύκυον|tr=kúkuon]] and [[m|grc|σίκυον|tr=síkuon]];^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) Wiktionary considers it a wanderword, perhaps ultimately from [[sux|ukuš₂|t=cucumber]] or a Mediterranean substrate.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Varro derived it from ⟨curvor⟩ “crookedness”, as if the cucumbers had been called ⟨curvimeres⟩.^(TLL)^(Varro)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) meaning a [[m|en|cucumber]]: in the ''Casina'' one speaker asks another “was it a radish? … a cucumber?” (''num radix fuit? … num cucumis?'').^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Varro, Virgil, Columella and Pliny the Elder use it of the cultivated plant and its fruit,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) and with an epithet (''cucumis anguinus'', ''cucumis silvester'') of the squirting cucumber.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Wiktionary notes that the cucumber of Roman Italy was mostly the snake melon, a kind of ''Cucumis melo''.^(Wiktionary) Pliny also uses it of a marine creature like a cucumber in colour and smell.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Diocletian's price edict lists cucumbers of the first quality,^(Georges 1913) and the Vulgate has it in the Book of Numbers.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In Medieval Latin, usually as ''cucumer'', it named the garden cucumber and, with an epithet, the wild cucumber;^(DMLBS)^(Wiktionary) a medieval physician notes that cucumbers do not grow in cold lands.^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''cocomero''.^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the ''Casina''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro names the ''cucumis anguinus''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the ''Georgics''.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for a sea creature.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the Book of Numbers.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|cucumber]] or [[m|en|melon]], the plant or its fruit.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''cucumis anguinus'', ''cucumis silvester'': the squirting cucumber.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A marine animal resembling a cucumber.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, New Latin)'' The garden cucumber.^(Wiktionary)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cucumerāceus]]

+ * [[cucumerārium]]

+ * [[cucumerifōrmis]]

+ * [[cucumifōrmis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}