zizanium

Latin[edit]

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ζιζάνιον (zizánion), ultimately from Sumerian 𒍣𒍝𒀭 (zizān, “wheat”).

(Classical) IPA^(key): /zizˈzaː.ni.um/, [d̪͡z̪ɪz̪ˈd̪͡z̪äːniʊ̃ˑ] or IPA^(key): /zizˈza.ni.um/, [d̪͡z̪ɪz̪ˈd̪͡z̪äniʊ̃ˑ]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /d͡zidˈd͡za.ni.um/, [d̪͡z̪id̪ˈd̪͡z̪äːnium]
Note: the /a/ is apparently long in Sumerian, as known in Classical Syriac ܙܝܙܢܐ (zīzānā) and Arabic زِوَان (ziwān), while it is short in Greek and the Latin scanning varies. The length of the /i/ before the underlyingly-geminate /z/ is unknown.

zizā̆nium n (genitive zizā̆niī or zizā̆nī); second declension

(Late Latin, often plural) cockle, tares, darnel (a weed, probably Lolium temulentum)
(Ecclesiastical Latin, figurative) used metaphorically of vices such as jealousy, discord etc.
(Can we find and add a quotation of Ambrose to this entry?)
354 CE – 430 CE, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, Sermon 47 5:
Quamvis et ipsi servi stomachati adversus zizania, consilium tamen et praeceptum a domino expetiverunt.
- c. 390 CE – c. 455 CE, Prosper Aquitanus, Carmen de ingratis 929, (hexameter):
  Spīnīs fulta subit seges horrida zizǎniōrum.
  Perishes the prickly crop of tares that grow from thorns.
- 348 CE – c. 413 CE, Prudentius, The Divinity of Christ 56, (iambic):
  Refert sed ipsa nōsse, quae messem necant / zizāniōrum sēmina.
  Yet it's important for us to know the very seeds of the tares that kill the crop.
- 5th century — Vulgate Bible, Matthaeus 13:26
  cum autem crevisset herba et fructum fecisset tunc apparuerunt et zizania.
  But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then also appeared the tares.

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).