Aquilegia

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See also: aquilegia and aquilégia

Translingual[edit]

Aquilegia vulgaris, European columbine

Etymology[edit]

From Medieval Latin aquilegia, of unknown origin; it is not known what the Romans called it. Maybe called by the aquila (“eagle”) like in English columbine and Italian colombina it is called by the columba (“pigeon”), and Latin chelīdonia (“celandine”) from χελῑδών (khelīdṓn, “swallow”) has also long been employed to designate this plant, also called in Spanish pajarilla (literally “little bird”). Other suggested resemblences include Latin aculeus (“spike”) and Latin aquilegus, aquilex (“collecting water”) because of the corolla of the plant being shaped like a water-container; however for the time before illustrated herbals have been printed it is not even certain that the term always referred to this plant. On top, the aqui- shape is suspected to be secondarily connected to these words and the Roman city Aquileia, regard also the forms in German Akelei q. v., Middle Low German akeleye, akleye (whence Danish akeleje, Norwegian akeleie, Swedish akleja), Middle Dutch akelei, akolei, Dutch akelei, and French ancolie (the other Romance forms are learned), wherefore Genaust instead connects Ancient Greek ἀγλαΐα (aglaḯa, “splendor, beauty”) or alternatively ἀγκύλος (ankúlos, “hooked, crooked”) or derivatives of it like ἀγκυλοχείλης (ankulokheílēs, “having a hooked beak”).

Proper noun[edit]

Aquilegia f

  1. A taxonomic genus within the family Ranunculaceae – columbines.

Hypernyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

References[edit]

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