cerasium

Latin

Alternative forms

• ceresium (Late Latin, Vulgar Latin)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κερᾰ́σῐον (kerásion, “cherry (fruit)”), from κερασός (kerasós, “bird cherry (tree)”), corresponding to Latin cerasus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /keˈra.si.um/, [kɛˈräs̠iʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃeˈra.si.um/, [t͡ʃeˈräːs̬ium]

Noun

cerasium n (genitive cerasiī); second declension

1. cherry, fruit of the cherry tree
   • c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 23.72.141:

     cerasia alvum molliunt, stomacho inutilia; eadem siccata alvum sistunt, urinam cient.

     • Translation by W. H. S. Jones

       Cherries relax the bowels, but are injurious to the stomach; dried cherries arrest looseness of the bowels and are diuretic.

   • c. 160 CE – c. 225 CE, Tertullian, Apologeticus 11.8:

     Ceterum si propterea Liber deus, quod vitem demonstravit, male cum Lucullo actum est, qui primus cerasia ex Ponto Italiae promulgavit, quod non est propterea consecratus ut frugis novae auctor, qui ostensor.

     But if Bacchus is made a god because he discovered the grapevine, Lucullus, who first introduced cherries from Pontus to Italy, has not been fairly dealt with; for as the discoverer of a new fruit, he has not, as though he were its creator, been awarded divine honours.

   • 200–400 Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana Leidensia Book 2 sect. Περὶ δένδρον De arboribus = Corpus glossariorum latinorum III p. 26 l. 20

     κεραϲιον cerasium

     [Greek] κεράσιον [is in Latin] cerasium

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cerasium	cerasia
Genitive	cerasiī	cerasiōrum
Dative	cerasiō	cerasiīs
Accusative	cerasium	cerasia
Ablative	cerasiō	cerasiīs
Vocative	cerasium	cerasia

Related terms

• cerasus (“cherry tree”)

Descendants

• Vulgar Latin: ceresium
  • Late Latin: ceresia (see there for further descendants)

References

• cerasium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.