hyacinth English · revision 370

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhaɪ̯əsɪnθ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|hyacinthus|t=a precious stone; a flowering plant]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) partly through [[frm|hyacinthe]],^(Hoad 1986) [[der|grc|ὑάκινθος|tr=huákinthos|t=a purple or deep-red flower; a precious stone]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) probably from a non-Indo-European Mediterranean language.^(Etymonline) It is a re-Greeked form of the older [[jacinth]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A blue precious stone (1553 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster);^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) the plant is recorded from the 1550s in Etymonline and 1578 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) The older form ''jacinth'' is recorded as the name of a gem about 1200.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In ancient Greece the word named a blue gem, perhaps the sapphire, and a purple or deep red flower that cannot be identified with certainty; the gladiolus, iris and larkspur have been suggested.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The flower was said to have sprung from the blood of Hyacinthus, a youth loved by Apollo and accidentally killed by him, and its petals were said to bear the letters AI, a Greek cry of grief.^(Etymonline)^(Hendrickson 2008)^(AHD) From the 1570s English applied the name to the modern genus ''Hyacinthus''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In mineralogy it is a reddish-orange variety of zircon,^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(RHWU) and from 1891 it names a purplish-blue colour.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1200 – ''jacinth'', a precious stone.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1553 – ''hyacinth'', a precious stone.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1578 – the flowering plant.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1891 – a purplish-blue colour.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bulbous Mediterranean plant, ''Hyacinthus orientalis'', of the [[lily]] family, grown for its cluster of fragrant, bell-shaped flowers, or any of several similar plants, such as the [[grape hyacinth]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A plant of Greek legend said to have sprung from the blood of Hyacinthus, variously identified as the [[iris]], [[gladiolus]] or [[larkspur]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A reddish-orange variety of [[zircon]], used as a gem; also a gem of the ancients, perhaps the [[sapphire]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A deep purplish blue.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hyacinthine]]

+ * [[wild hyacinth]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[jacinth]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}