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ragu

noun, f., o- decl., 10 occ.

Type: plant

Last Update: 09.08.2011 08:16

Old-English: ragu, rægu, rogo, rago-, ragu-, reagu-,

Latin (Machine generated): MOSICLUM, MOSILCUM, MOSILICUM, MOSSICLUM, MOSSUCLUM, SEDULIUM,

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References Last Update: 18.10.2022 20:23

Meanings Last Update: 24.10.2008 09:58

  • A: plant
    -, lichen, Flechte
  • A: plant
    -, moss, Moos
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Comments Last Update: 14.07.2010 12:04

  • Comment on (A): -, lichen, Flechte

    It is hardly possible to ascertain a specific species: in her study of ræghar 'grey with lichen' Biggam (1998,206-209) lists 48 possible species of lichen growing on stone and being of a grayish color - a list with all lichen species native to Anglo Saxon Britain would undoubtedly be much longer. But judging from other OE lichen names (e.g. →cyric-ragu) the habitat of the plant (and its symbolic quality) was much more important than identifying a certain species.

  • Comment on (A): -, moss, Moos

    The meaning 'moss, Moos' cannot be ruled out because many moss and lichen species prefer the same habitat. The plant name MOSICLUM, etc. is only recorded in the respective glosses. Pheifer (n. 629) assumes: "? for MUSCULUS, dim. of MUSCUS 'moss'". Blatt in contrast (s.v. MOSILICUM) relates the word[1] to GK μόσυλον, L MOSELIUS, which denotes a cinnamon species. The phonetically most related expression is L MOSSILICUS (var. of MOSSYLITES), which is a name of an Ethiopian harbor that - according to Pliny (6,174) was central for the cinnamon trade.[2] The wrong gloss ragu could go back to some association with L MUSCUS 'moss, Moos' and OE →mēos. Wynn (1961,610) plausibly explains SEDULIUM, which is not recorded anywhere else, as diminutive of SEDUM: Sedum acre L.; wall pepper; Scharfer Mauerpfeffer, for example, is sometimes called 'moss' (cf. Britten / Holland 1886, s.v. moss) and also cf. Fr mousse de mer, G Steenmoos.[3]

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Occurrences Last Update: 13.09.2010 10:35

  • Br,WW, 298,3 MOSILICUM ragu
  • ClQu, 46,1 MOSICLUM ragu
  • ClSt, M 123 MOSSICLUM ragu
  • Cp, 1348(M 258) MOSICLUM ragu
  • Cp, 1356(M 289)[4] MOSICLUM ragu
  • Cp, 1881(S 300) SEDULIUM rægu
  • Dur, 242 MOSILCUM ragu
  • Ep, 629 MOSSICLUM ragu
  • Erf, 629 MOSSUCLUM ragu
  • Laud, 969 MOSICLUM rogo
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Research Literature

Br: Logeman, Henri. "Zu Wright-Wülker I, 204-303." Archiv 85 (1890): 316-318.
BW III: Bierbaumer, Peter. Der botanische Wortschatz des Altenglischen. Grazer Beiträge zur Englischen Philologie 3. Frankfurt am Main, Bern, Las Vegas: Lang, 1979.
ClQu: Quinn, John Joseph. The Minor Latin-Old English Glossaries in MS Cotton Cleopatra A III. Diss Stanford U. 1956.
ClSt: Stryker, William Garlington. The Latin-Old English Glossary in MS Cotton Cleopatra A III. Unpubl. diss. Stanford Univ.: 1952.
Cp: Hessels, John Henry. An Eighth-Century Latin Anglo-Saxon Glossary. Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1890.
Cp: Lindsay, Wallace Martin. The Corpus Glossary. Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1921.
Cp: Wynn, J. B. An Edition of the Anglo-Saxon Corpus Glosses. Unpubl. Diss. Oxford: 1961.
Dur: Lindheim, B. von. Das Durhamer Pflanzenglossar. Beiträge zur englischen Philologie. 35. Bochum-Langendreer: Pöppinghaus, 1941.
Ep, Erf: Pheifer, J.D. (ed.). Old English Glosses in the Epinal-Erfurt Glossary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974.
Ep: Brown, Alan Kelsey. The Epinal Glossary edited with Critical Commentary of the Vocabulary. Vol. I: Edition. Vol. II: Commentary. Diss., Stanford University. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1969.
Laud: Stracke, J. Richard (ed.). The Laud Herbal Glossary. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1974.
WW, Prosp, Br: Wright, Thomas. Anglo-Saxon and Old English Vocabularies. 2nd ed. by Richard Paul Wülcker. Reprint of the 1884 ed. published by Trübner, London. Vol. 1: Vocabularies. Vol. 2: Indices. New York: Gordon, 1976.
Biggam, Carole P.. "Grey' in Old English: an Interdisciplinary Semantic Study. London: Runetree, 1998.
Bischoff, Bernard, et al. (eds.).. The Épinal, Erfurt, Werden and Corpus Glossaries. Early English manuscripts in facsimile 22. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1988.
Blatt, Franz, et al., eds. Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab Anno 800 usque ad Annum 1200. Bd L, Bd.M-N, Lfg. O-Ocyter. Hafniae: Munksgaard, 1957.
Britten, James, and Robert Holland. A Dictionary of English Plant-Names. London: Trübner, 1886.
Lendinara, Patrizia. "The Glossaries in London, BL, Cotton Cleopatra A. iii." In: _Mittelalterliche volkssprachige Glossen: Internationale Fachkonferenz des Zentrums für Mittelalterstudien der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg 2. bis 4. August 1999._ Ed. Rolf Bergmann, Elvira Glaser, and Claudine Moulin-Fankhänel. Heidelberg: Winter, 2001. 189-215.
Lindsay, Wallace Martin. Corpus, Épinal, Erfurt and Leyden Glossaries. Publications of the Philological Society VIII. London: Oxford University Press, 1921.
Marzell, Heinrich. Wörterbuch der deutschen Pflanzennamen. Mit Unterstützung der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Bearb. von Heinrich Marzell. Unter Mitw. von Wilhelm Wissmann. Köln: Parkland, 2000.
Mayhoff, Carolus (ed.). C. Plinii Secundi Naturalis Historiae Libri XXXVII. 6 Bde.; Nd. der Ausg. Leipzig 1865-1909. Stuttgart: 1967.
MS Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale, 1828-30.
MS Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 144.
MS Durham, Cathedral, Hunter 100.
MS Epinal, Bibliotheque Municipale, 72.
MS London, British Library, Cotton Cleopatra A.iii.
MS Oxford, Bodleian, Laud Misc. 567.
MS Erfurt, Wissenschaftliche Allgemeinbibliothek, Amplonianus F.42.
Rusche, Philip Guthrie. The Cleopatra Glossaries. Diss. Yale Univ. Yale University, 1996.
Sauer, Hans. "Old English Plant-Names in the Epinal-Erfurt Glossary: Etymology, Word-Formation and Semantics." In: _Words, Lexemes, Concepts - approaches to the lexicon. Studies in honour of Leonhard Lipka._ Ed. Wolfgang Falkner and Hans-Jörg Schmidt. Tübingen: Narr, 1999. 23-38.
Storms, Godfrid (ed.). Anglo-Saxon Magic. Reprint of the 1948 ed. published by M. Nijhoff, The Hague. Norwood, Pa: Norwood Editions, 1975.
Voss, Manfred. "Strykers Edition des alphabetischen Cleopatraglossars: Corrigenda und Addenda." AAA 13:2 (1988): 123-138.
Voss, Manfred. "Quinns Edition der kleineren Cleopatraglossare: Corrigenda und Addenda." AAA 14:2 (1989): 127-139.
[1]:

Blatt only refers to Br,WW 298,3.

[2]:

Plinius: PROMUNTORIUM ET PORTUS MOSSYLITES (var. MOSSILICUS), QUO CINNAMUM DEVEHITUR.

[3]:

Cf. Marzell (2000,4,213); the names are related to the habitat and to the appearance of the non-flourishing plant.

[4]:

Lemma: MOSICUM.