unedo

Latin

Etymology

Unknown. One only knows a folk etymology by Pliny that it comes from ūnum (“one”) + edō (“eat”) because only one fruit could be eaten at a time due to the foul taste—but the strawberry tree fruit is not commonly counted foul, albeit relatively bland.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu.ne.doː/, [ˈʊnɛd̪oː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈu.ne.do/, [ˈuːned̪o]

Noun

unedō m (genitive unedōnis); third declension

1. strawberry tree

   Synonym: arbutus

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	unedō	unedōnēs
Genitive	unedōnis	unedōnum
Dative	unedōnī	unedōnibus
Accusative	unedōnem	unedōnēs
Ablative	unedōne	unedōnibus
Vocative	unedō	unedōnēs

Derived terms

• *unedōna (“strawberry tree fruit”)
  • ⇒ *udenōna (metathesis)
    • French: olone
      • ⇒ French: olonier (“strawberry tree”) (by 1900 died out everywhere but in Royan (Charente-Inférieure))

References

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