caprificus Latin · revision 9460

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Terence|origins=la caper, la fīcus}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''caprifīcus''' ''m'' (genitive caprifīcī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The OLD and Lewis & Short give it as feminine, genitive ''caprificī'', rarely ''-ūs''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[caper]] “he-goat” and [[fīcus]] “fig”, “goat fig”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The Thesaurus notes that Greek likewise links the wild fig and the goat.^(TLL) De Vaan traces ⟨caper⟩ to [[itc-pro|*kapro-|t=he-goat]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lewis & Short cite Terence's ''Adelphoe''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Terence 190–159 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the wild fig tree, as in Terence and Horace.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Persius used it figuratively of natural gifts that force their way out, like the wild fig that grows anywhere, and Columella used it of the wild fig's fruit.^(Gaffiot 2016) Isidore derived the name from ''carpere'' “to tear”, because it tears apart the walls in which it grows.^(Isidore)

+

+ British Medieval Latin kept the sense wild fig.^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''caprifico'' and Spanish ''cabrahígo''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains its name.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The wild [[m|en|fig]] tree.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[caprifīcō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fīcus]]

+ * [[caper]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}