herbitum

Latin edit

Alternative forms edit

erbutus, erbitus

Etymology edit

In sense 1, possibly an altered version of arbutus (“strawberry tree”)^[1] (compare Portuguese êrvedo), likely influenced by herba (“grass”), which Isidore cites in his explanation. Perhaps compare also Italian erbato and Spanish servato (“sulphurwort, hog fennel (Peucedanum officinale)”).^[2]

The sense "lawn", given by Gaffiot and by Gustav Friedrich Hildebrand's Glossarium^[3] and possibly attested by a gloss, may represent a second lexeme, as it does not fit with Isidore's usage. A meaning "lawn" would make sense as a variant spelling of herbētum from herba (“grass”) +‎ -ētum (suffix forming nouns of place from plant names) (compare Catalan herbei). Compare also herbitium and herbārium.

Noun edit

herbitum n (genitive herbitī); second declension

the name of some kind of plant fed as fodder to flocks
- early 7th c. CE, Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae sive Origines 17.7.55.:^[1]
  Herbitum vocaverunt pastores eo quod vice herbae praebeatur pecoribus, ubi pascua desunt.
  2005 translation by Priscilla Throop White
  Shepherds named herbitum, because it is offered to flocks, in place of grasses, herbae, when pasturage is lacking.
- early 11th century, Antwerp-London Glossaries 12. Omnia Nomina Tritici Sunt:^[4]
  Herbitum, orfgebitt.
  Herbitum, fodder [lit.: "livestock/cattle-biting"]
a lawn, meadow
- Gloss.^L II Abav. :^[5]
  herbitum [or herbetum] locus in quo herbae sunt

Usage notes edit

The word occurs in a section of Isidore's Etymologies that explains the names of various plants, such as terebinthus, rhododendron and turbiscus, which suggests that for Isidore herbitum was the name of some specific plant. The identification of the species seems uncertain, although the assumption by Forcellini and Quicherat that it is the rhododendron (mentioned in Isidore's immediately preceding entry) must be rejected.^[6]^[7] As the Old English glossary where this word appears contains other vocabulary that seems to be taken from Isidore, its definition is presumably derived from that source.

It occurs with no definition or context in a manuscript of the Commentarii notarum Tironianarum (a book of shorthand symbols).^[8]

Declension edit

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	herbitum	herbita
Genitive	herbitī	herbitōrum
Dative	herbitō	herbitīs
Accusative	herbitum	herbita
Ablative	herbitō	herbitīs
Vocative	herbitum	herbita

References edit

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Throop, Priscilla (2005) Isidore of Seville's Etymologies: Complete English Translation, volume 2, page XVII.7.50
^ Burgess, Edward Sandford (1902) History of pre-Clusian botany in its relation to Aster, page 177
^ Hildebrand, G.F. (1854) Glossarium latinum bibliothecae parisinae antiquissimum saec. IX. [...], page 160: “Herbitum, locus, in quo herbae sunt.”
^ Wright, Thomas (1884) Richard Paul Wülcker, editor, Anglo-Saxon and Old English vocabularies, 2nd edition, volume 1, page 149
^ Goerg Goetz, editor (1899), Corpus Glossarium Latinorum, Volumes 6-7, page 517
^ J. Sofer (1927) "Lexikalische Untersuchungen zu den Etymologiae des Isidorus von Sevilla", Glotta, XVI (1927), 1-2, p. 1-47; page 8
^ Amatucci, Aurelio-Giuseppe (1924), review of J. Sofer (Lexikalische Untersuchungen zu den Etymologiae des Isidorus von Sevilla (Glotta, XVI (1927), 1-2, p. 1-47), "Analyses et comptes-rendus", in Bulletin Du Cange: archivvm latinitatis medii aevi, Volumes 1-4, page 56
^ Schmitz, Wilhelm, editor (1893), Commentarii notarum tironianarum cum prolegomenis adnotationibus criticis et exegeticis notarumque indice alphabetico; Commentarii III. Cap. IV., tab 94 (Gr. 152, 153, 154), nota 63a