mespilum

Latin

Alternative forms

• mespila, *nespila, *nespira, *nespirum

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μέσπιλον (méspilon).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmes.pi.lum/, [ˈmɛs̠pɪɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmes.pi.lum/, [ˈmɛspilum]

Noun

mespilum n (genitive mespilī); second declension

1. The medlar (fruit or tree)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mespilum	mespila
Genitive	mespilī	mespilōrum
Dative	mespilō	mespilīs
Accusative	mespilum	mespila
Ablative	mespilō	mespilīs
Vocative	mespilum	mespila

Descendants

• Old French: mesple, mesdle, medle, mesle
  • French: nèfle
  • → Middle English: medle, meyle, mele, melde
  • ⇒ medler, meslier
    • → Middle English: medler, meddeler, medeler, middiller, medlar
      • English: medlar
• Italian: nespolo, nespola
• Portuguese: nêspera
• Spanish: níspero
• → Proto-West Germanic: *mespilā (see there for further descendants)

References

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

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “medlar”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.