aesculus Latin · revision 8123

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈae̯s.kʊ.ɫʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛs.ku.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''aesculus''' ''f'' (genitive aesculī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''esculus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan finds the form and function of the suffix unclear if it is Indo-European, and considers a substrate word, perhaps Mediterranean, though a Germanic cognate would then be surprising.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) He and the OLD compare [[grc|αἰγίλωψ|tr=aigílōps|t=a kind of oak]] and [[gem-pro|*aik-|t=oak]], as in [[non|eik]] and [[en|oak]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Lewis and Short mention a link with [[edō]] “to eat”, as ⟨fāgus⟩ with Greek ⟨phageîn⟩, but the diphthong is a difficulty; the TLL rejects it, and mentions a derivation from [[aes]] “bronze” for the hardness of the wood.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan's first attestation is Varro, whom Köbler dates 116–27 BC, and Köbler's own first source is Virgil.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a kind of oak, perhaps the durmast or the Hungarian oak, which Lewis and Short call the tallest oak, with edible acorns.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It was sacred to Jupiter, and appears in Virgil, Horace, Ovid and Pliny the Elder.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ British Medieval Latin used it, uncertainly, for a kind of oak, the beech and perhaps the medlar.^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''eschio'' and ''eschia''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of an oak.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A kind of [[m|en|oak]], perhaps the durmast or Hungarian oak.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The [[m|en|beech]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aesculētum]]

+ * [[aesculeus]]

+ * [[aesculinus]]

+ * [[aesculnius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quercus]]

+ * [[en|oak]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}