sesamum Latin · revision 4246

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Plautus|origins=grc σήσαμον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈseː.sa.mũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛː.s̬a.mum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sēsamum''' ''n'' (genitive sēsamī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|σήσαμον|tr=sḗsamon|t=sesame]].^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) Köbler and Etymonline take the Greek from a Semitic language, compare [[akk|samassamu]], and Etymonline says it came through Phoenician.^(Köbler 2010)^(Etymonline) Other forms are [[m|la|sēsamon]] and [[m|la|sīsamum]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus mentions it in the Poenulus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC, though he names Celsus as its first author.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant sesame seed and the oil pressed from it, and also the plant: Columella says some people sow sesame this month.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder calls the castor-oil plant ''sēsamum silvestre''.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Celsus and Petronius use it too.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In medieval British Latin it was sesame and its seed.^(DMLBS) English ''sesame'' is recorded in the early 15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it in medicine.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella writes about sowing it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 15th century – English ''sesame'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|sesame]] seed; its oil.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The sesame plant, ''sēsamum silvestre'' the castor-oil plant.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|sesame]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sēsamum'' is also the name of a town in Paphlagonia mentioned by Pliny the Elder.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}