верба

Forms

ве́рба (vérba) f inan (genitive ве́рбы, nominative plural ве́рбы, genitive plural верб)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic вьрба (vĭrba), from Proto-Slavic *vьrba (“willow”).^[1][2] The word is shared by the Slavic languages: Ukrainian верба (verba), Old Church Slavonic врьба (vrĭba) (for Greek ἰτέα (itéa, “willow”)), Bulgarian връба (vrǎba), Serbo-Croatian vȑba, Slovene vŕba, Czech vrba and Polish wierzba.^[2][3]

It is related to Lithuanian vir̃bas (“rod, stalk”), Latvian vir̂bs (“little stick”), Ancient Greek ῥάβδος (rhábdos, “staff”) and Latin verbēna (“leaves and shoots of laurel”), and to verber (“blow, lash”), first “rods”.^[2][3] ESRJa traces it, after Trautmann, to Proto-Indo-European *u̯erbes, from *wer- (“to bend, to twist”), also in вервь: the word first meant something pliant, then “rod, twig”, and Slavic narrowed it to the tree, the reverse of what happened to *větь, which went from “willow” to “branch”.^[3] Shansky likewise connects it with the root of вертеть, with the first sense “branch”.^[4] Wiktionary follows Matasović in deriving it from *werbʰ- (“twig, stick”) and adds Proto-Germanic *warpą.^[1] Brandt thought the Baltic words were borrowed from Russian and doubted the Latin comparison;^[3] ESRJa considers both views doubtful.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is in the account of the pilgrimage of Abbot Daniel, written in 1113 and known from a copy of 1496, where a tree by the Jordan is described as „аки вербѣ подобно” “like a willow”.^[5] Sreznevsky's material has Old Russian вьрба, верба and вьрьбница, the name of Palm Sunday.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Because willow branches took the place of palm fronds in Rus', the tree is bound up with Palm Sunday, Вербное воскресенье, and was believed to keep away evil spirits.^[7] In 1653 Arseny Sukhanov uses верба for the branches handed out at the Palm Sunday service, and in 1674 a верба нарядная, a decorated willow tree, was made for the procession of that day.^[5] The 18th century used the word for a willow rod (Не верьба бьет, старой грѣх “It is not the willow that beats you but an old sin”) and in plant names such as верба вавилонская “weeping willow”.^[8] Before the revolution верба also meant the fair held on the Saturday before Palm Sunday.^[9]

Timeline

• 1113 – вербѣ подобно “like a willow” in Abbot Daniel's Pilgrimage (copy of 1496).^[5]
• 1653 – верба, the branches given out on Palm Sunday, in Arseny Sukhanov's Proskinitarion.^[5]
• 1670 – weddings „около вербы” “around a willow” on the Don, in the Voronezh records.^[5]
• 1674 – верба нарядная, the decorated willow of Palm Sunday.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A willow, especially the pussy willow: a tree or shrub of the willow family with fluffy buds.^[10][11][1]
2. A willow branch with catkins, carried in church on Palm Sunday.^[9][7]
3. (historical) The fair held on the Saturday before Palm Sunday.^[9]
4. Willow wood.^[12]

Word family

• вербный
• вербовый
• вербочка
• верболоз

Related words

• вервь
• вертеть
• Old East Slavic вьрба (vĭrba)
• Old Church Slavonic врьба (vrĭba)

Usage notes

Regionally the word is stressed верба́.^[9][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 293
3. ^ a b c d e Shansky, N. M.; Zhuravlev, A. F. (eds.) (1963–2007), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], vols. 1–10 (A–M), Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo universiteta, p. 3, s.v. верба
4. ^ Shansky, N. M.; Bobrova, T. A. (2004), Škol'nyj ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Школьный этимологический словарь русского языка], 7th ed., Moskva: Drofa, p. s.v. верба
5. ^ a b c d e f Barkhudarov, S. G. et al. (eds.) (1975–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XI–XVII vv. [Словарь русского языка XI–XVII вв.], vols. 1–31, Moskva: Nauka / Azbukovnik / Lexrus, p. 2, 80
6. ^ Preobrazhensky, A. G. (1910–1914), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2 vols. (A–T; vol. 3, T–Ja, 1949), Moskva: Lissner & Sovko, p. 1, 108
7. ^ a b Kuznetsov, S. A. (ed.) (1998), Bol'šoj tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Большой толковый словарь русского языка], Sankt-Peterburg: Norint, p. s.v. верба
8. ^ Sorokin, Yu. S. et al. (eds.) (1984–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XVIII veka [Словарь русского языка XVIII века], vols. 1–24, Leningrad / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. s.v. верба
9. ^ a b c d Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. верба
10. ^ Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. верба
11. ^ Evgen'eva, A. P. (ed.) (1981–1984), Slovar' russkogo jazyka v četyrex tomax [Словарь русского языка в 4 тт.] (MAS), 2nd ed., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. верба
12. ^ Efremova, T. F. (2000), Novyj slovar' russkogo jazyka. Tolkovo-slovoobrazovatel'nyj [Новый словарь русского языка. Толково-словообразовательный], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. верба
13. ^ Gorbanevsky, M. N.; Gerd, A. S. et al. (eds.) (2004–), Bol'šoj akademičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Большой академический словарь русского языка], Moskva / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. 2, s.v. верба