sambucus

See also: Sambucus

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /samˈbuː.kus/, [s̠ämˈbuːkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /samˈbu.kus/, [sämˈbuːkus]

Etymology 1

From sambūca (“ancient stringed instrument of Asiatic origin”), from Ancient Greek σαμβύκη (sambúkē, “sambuca”), ultimately from Aramaic סַבְּכָא (sabbəḵā).

Noun

sambūcus m (genitive sambūcī); second declension

1. sambuca player

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sambūcus	sambūcī
Genitive	sambūcī	sambūcōrum
Dative	sambūcō	sambūcīs
Accusative	sambūcum	sambūcōs
Ablative	sambūcō	sambūcīs
Vocative	sambūce	sambūcī

Related terms

• sambūca
• sambūcina
• sambūcistria

Etymology 2

Masculine form of sambūca (“ancient stringed instrument of Asiatic origin”), as the wind instrument was made from the wood of the elder tree. +‎ -ūcus was a suffix common to several other plant names.

Alternative forms

• sabūcus

Noun

sambūcus f (genitive sambūcī); second declension

1. elder tree, elderberry

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sambūcus	sambūcī
Genitive	sambūcī	sambūcōrum
Dative	sambūcō	sambūcīs
Accusative	sambūcum	sambūcōs
Ablative	sambūcō	sambūcīs
Vocative	sambūce	sambūcī

Derived terms

• sambūceus
• sambūcum

Descendants

• Italian: sambuco
• Lombard: sambugh
• Occitan: sambuc
• Sardinian: sambucu
• Venetan: sanbugo, sanbuc
• Borrowings:
  • → English: sambuca
  • → Translingual: Sambucus

References

• “sambucus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sambucus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

• Whatmough, Joshua (1950) The Dialects of Ancient Gaul, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, published 1970, →DOI, →ISBN, page 1196