The corpus record — Latin

ferula

giant fennel

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Epistularum 1 · 12.5/10k
Divus Claudius 1 · 1.57/10k
Florida 1 · 1.27/10k
Epistularum 1 · 1.1/10k
Contra Symmachum 1 · 0.83/10k
Saturae 2 · 0.8/10k
De Medicina 8 · 0.78/10k
Satyrarum libri 1 · 0.7/10k
Naturalis Historia 27 · 0.68/10k
Ars Amatoria 1 · 0.67/10k
De Re Coquinaria 1 · 0.64/10k
Res Rustica, Books I-IX 3 · 0.38/10k

Densest 12 of 15 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. ferula — de Vaan

ferula 'giant fennel' [f. a] (Varro+) Under the assumption that the 'giant fenneF was named for its long staiks, ferula may be connected with festuca, showing a stem *fes- in both words. Without further etymology. BibL: WH 1:487, EM 230. ^festuca ferveo ferflmen, -inis * cement, glue' [n, n] (Petr.+; most texts and mss. hwtferrumeri) Derivatives: offerrumenta 'seam, joint' (PL). If the spelling ferrumen was … — [de Vaan, s.v. ferula, p. 228]

2. fĕrŭla — Lewis & Short

fĕrŭla, ae, f.,

I the plant fennel-giant, Ferula, Linn., in the pith of which Prometheus is feigned to have preserved the fire which he stole from heaven.

I Lit., Plin. 13, 22, 42, § 122; 7, 56, 57, § 198; Hyg. Fab. 144; Serv. Verg. E. 6, 42.—

II Transf.

A The thin or slender branch of a tree, Plin. 17, 21, 35, § 152.—

B A staff, walkingstick (for syn. cf.: baculum, bacillum, scipio, fustis; virga), Plin. 13, 22, 42, § 123.—

C A whip, rod, to punish slaves or schoolboys, Hor. S. 1, 3, 120; Juv. 6, 479; Mart. 14, 80; 10, 62, 10; Juv. 1, 15; Mart. Cap. 3, § 224; for driving draught cattle, Ov. M. 4, 26; cf. id. A. A. 1, 546.—

D As an attribute of Silvanus, Verg. E. 10, 25.—

E A splint for broken bones, Cels. 8, 10, 1.—

F The young stag's horn, Plin. 8, 32, 50, § 117.

3. ferula — Walde–Hofmann

ferula, -ae f. ,hochgewachsene Doldenpflanze mit markigem Rohr, Gertenkraut“ (gr. váp8nt; wie dieses in mannigfachen Übertrgg.: „Stock zum Schlagen, Stab zum Stützen; Schiene für gebrochene Glieder; das gerade Stengelstück zwischen zwei Knoten; Stange des Hirsches") (seit Varro, rom. [Wartburg III 478); davon -Zceus seit Plin, -ágó Bayla’, -ürís, -eus Spátl): lautlich mehrdeutig, Et. unsicher. Herkunft aus *fesolä … — [Walde–Hofmann, s.v. ferula, p. 519]

In the wild

ferulisque Celsus, De Medicina 8.10.p3
ferulam Celsus, De Medicina 4.17
ferulae Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 20.23.p7
ferulae Ausonius, Epistularum 22.po.29
ferulae Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 12.26
ferula Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 1.20.p112

6 of 52 attestations shown.

Where it came from

de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. ferula (scan pp. 228-229; entry #555). Root candidates: *fes-.
Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. ferula (scan p. 254; entry #3952).
Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. ferula (scan p. 519; entry #1109).

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.