enzia

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin gingīvam, accusative of gingīva. According to Corominas and Pascual, also attested as enziva, cf. Asturian enxiva, xenxiva, Catalan geniva.

Alternative forms

• enziva

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /enˈdzia/

Noun

enzia f (plural enzias)

1. (usually in the plural, anatomy) gum
   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 72r.

     Eſta piedra preſta mucho al podrimiento delos dientes ¬ delas enzias. ¬ mata los guſanos que se fazen en ellos. ¬ faz los blancos & fremoſos.

     This stone is very good for the rotting of the teeth and gums. And it kills the worms that form in [teeth], and it makes them white and beautiful.

Descendants

• Spanish: encía

Further reading

• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “encía”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Gredos, →ISBN, page 597