frutex Latin · revision 5746

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈfrʊ.tɛks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfruː.teks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''frutex''' ''m'' (genitive fruticis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) A link with [[ang|brēowan|t=to brew]], from *bʰrewH- “to sprout”, would require a shortened *frūto-, which Schrijver rejects, and the meaning is not obvious.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan also considers [[sga|broth|t=awn, hair]], and thinks it might be a borrowed plant word.^(de Vaan 2008) Isidore said the shrub was named because it covers the ground with leaves.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus, who calls a slave a blockhead: “you speak neither likely nor true, you shrub”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a shrub or bush, as Lucretius' early men hiding among bushes, as distinct from a tree, and also a shoot or stem.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Plautus used it as a term of abuse, “blockhead”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Its derivative ''frutectum'' meant a thicket.^(Gaffiot 2016) Botanists borrowed [[en|frutex]] and ''fruticose'' “shrubby”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus calls a slave a blockhead.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius has early men hide among bushes.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of every kind of wood and shrub.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|shrub]], [[m|en|bush]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A shoot, stem.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (abusive) A [[m|en|blockhead]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[frutectum]]

+ * [[fruticētum]]

+ * [[fruticōsus]]

+ * [[fruticō]]

+ * [[suffrutex]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[arbor]]

+ * [[virgultum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}