hyacinthus Latin · revision 4124

15 Oct 2026, 21:12 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Virgil|origins=grc ὑάκινθος}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [hy.aˈkɪn.tʰʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [i.aˈt͡ʃin.tus]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''hyacinthus''' ''m'' (genitive hyacinthī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|grc|ὑάκινθος|tr=huákinthos|t=hyacinth]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Saalfeld 1874) Wiktionary and Etymonline consider the Greek word to come from a non-Indo-European Mediterranean language.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Ovid tells how the flower sprang from the blood of Hyacinthus, a Spartan youth killed by Apollo's discus, and was marked with the letters of the cry “ai”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Virgil, in the Eclogues, has the sweetly blushing hyacinth.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Virgil 70–19 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was a flower, not the modern hyacinth, variously identified as the martagon lily, the blue iris or the larkspur.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) Isidore of Seville says it has a purple flower and took its name from a noble boy found among purple flowers.^(Isidore)
+ 
+ Pliny uses it of a precious stone, probably the sapphire, into which the violet glow of the amethyst fades.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Medieval Latin used it of a dark blue or violet colour and of silk or cloth dyed that colour.^(MLW)^(Niermeyer 1976) The spelling ''iacintus'' gave English ''jacinth'' about 1200, at first a blue gem, ''hyacinth'' for the plant is from the 1550s.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil mentions the flower.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid tells the story of Hyacinthus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a gem.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 1200 – English ''jacinth'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1550s – English ''hyacinth'' is recorded for the plant.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A flower, perhaps the [[m|en|martagon lily]], [[m|en|iris]] or [[m|en|larkspur]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)
+ # A precious stone, probably the [[m|en|sapphire]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Blue-violet silk or cloth.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(MLW)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[en|hyacinth]]
+ * [[en|jacinth]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}