arbor Latin · revision 5883

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=itc-pro *arþōs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈar.bɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈar.bor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''arbor''' ''f'' (genitive arboris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*arþōs]].^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan connects it with [[arduus]] “high”, from the root [[ine-pro|*h₃rdʰ-|t=upright, high]], and reconstructs [[ine-pro|*h₃rdʰ-ōs|t=uprightness, height]], which would have taken the concrete sense “upright thing, tree”.^(de Vaan 2008) He notes the drawback that the other languages build their adjective “high” on a stem *h₃rdʰ-u-o-, so that ''arbor'' would be a very archaic formation.^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD calls the origin doubtful, and Köbler gives the same root, Pokorny's *erədʰ- “high, to grow”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) The older nominative [[m|la|arbōs]] keeps the original /s/, which became /r/ between vowels in the oblique cases ([[m|la|arbosem]] in Festus) and then spread to the nominative.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose slave says he will climb some tree to keep watch.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its main sense was always “tree”, also collectively “trees”, as Sallust's land unfruitful in trees, and the trunk of a tree in Pliny the Elder.^(OLD 2012) Cato uses it of the beam of an olive press, and poets of things made of wood, such as a ship or an oar.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny also names a sea creature with spreading arms ''arbor'', perhaps a kind of squid.^(OLD 2012) Virgil and Ovid prefer the old form ''arbōs''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Isidore of Seville distinguished ''arbor'', fruit-bearing or barren, from ''arbōs'', which he said was used only of fruit-bearing trees.^(Isidore)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it was used of the tree of Jesse and of genealogical trees, and the tree of Porphyry was a diagram of genus and species.^(DMLBS) Every Romance language continues it, as [[fr|arbre]], [[it|albero]], [[ro|arbore]] and [[es|árbol]].^(DÉRom)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of climbing a tree.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of the beam of an olive press.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses the old nominative ''arbōs''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder names a sea creature ''arbor''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville distinguishes ''arbor'' and ''arbōs''.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|tree]], (collectively) trees.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The [[m|en|trunk]] of a tree.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A wooden beam or post, especially in an olive press, (poetic) a thing made of wood, such as a ship, an oar or a gallows.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A sea creature, perhaps a kind of squid.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A genealogical tree, the tree of Jesse.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[arborarius]]

+ * [[arborator]]

+ * [[arborēscō]]

+ * [[arborētum]]

+ * [[arboreus]]

+ * [[arbuscula]]

+ * [[arbustus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[arbustīvus]]

+ * [[arbustō]]

+ * [[arbustum]]

+ * [[arduus]]

+ * [[en|arbor]]

+ * [[en|arboreal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}