cervix Latin · revision 5312

16 Oct 2026, 02:15 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=Plautus}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkɛr.wiːks]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛr.viks]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''cervīx''' ''f'' (genitive cervīcis); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) Walde and Hofmann proposed *kers-weik-s “head band”, from the root of [[cerebrum]] and [[vinciō]] “to bind”, which de Vaan finds semantically very doubtful.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The suffix recalls [[coxendīx]] “hip”.^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD and TLL also compare that word.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Isidore explains the name as the way by which the brain reaches the spinal marrow.^(Isidore)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who uses the plural ''cervīcēs'' for one neck.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was the neck, especially the back of the neck or nape; in early writers and Cicero the plural was used for a single neck.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It stood for the neck that is embraced, that bears a yoke, or that is struck by the executioner.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) By transfer it was the thin stalk under the head of a plant, and in medicine the neck of the bladder or the womb.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ In the Vulgate and medieval Latin a hard or stiff neck was a sign of pride.^(DMLBS) [[en|cervix]] was borrowed in the early 15th century; its use for the neck of the womb dates from the 19th century, and [[en|cervical]] from the 1680s.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the plural of one neck.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of a head torn from the neck.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of the neck of the bladder.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains it as ''cerebrī via''.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * early 15th century – English ''cervix'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The [[m|en|neck]], especially the nape.^(OLD 2012)
+ # The stalk below the head of a plant.^(OLD 2012)
+ # The neck (of the bladder, of the [[m|en|womb]]).^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[cervīcal]]
+ * [[cervīcālis]]
+ * [[cervīcātus]]
+ * [[cervīcōsus]]
+ * [[cervīcula]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[cerebrum]]
+ * [[en|cervix]]
+ * [[en|cervical]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}