Antiminon
Antiminon apud Dyascoridem vocatur mandragora.
Apparatus:
Antiminon (-nõ ABC) ABC fp | Antimonij ms. e {contamination with antimonium, the headword of one of the subsequent entries}.
Translation:
Antiminon is a synonym for mandragora {"mandrake"} in Dyascorides.
Commentary:
Antiminon is Greek ἀντίμιμον /antímimon/, the neuter form of an adjective that means "closely imitating". According to Carnoy (1959: 30), s.v. antimimos the name means "{plant that) imitates (the human body) well". ἀντίμιμον /antímimon/ only occurs in Dioscorides, cf. for Greek: 4, ed. Wellmann (1906-14: II. 233ff). [[1]]. There are further variants, e.g. in Wellmann's apparatus: ἀντίμηλον /antímēlon/ {i.e. lit. "instead of an apple"} and in the RV version: ἀντιμήνιον /antimḗnion/ {i.e. lit. "against anger"}. The naming motives for these variants are unclear.
ἀντίμιμον /antímimon/ also occurs in the RV version of Dioscorides as a synonym for a different plant, cf. Wellmann, (1906-14: II.191), chapter 28 describing the plant ὠκιμοειδές /ōkimoeidés/, a plant often identified with Silene gallica L., the "common catchfly".
The word is also found in Dyascorides alphabeticus: autimnnõ? or autuminõ? Bodmer f 51v [[2]]; but also in Dioscorides Longobardus, which has anteminion, most likely derived from an itacist ἀντιμήνιον /antimínion/, lit. "against anger". In the apparatus there is in addition antiminum, imnion, cf. 4, 71, ed. Stadler (1901: 40-2). De mandragora.[[3]]
Occasionally a shortened form iminon is adopted, probably motivated by a misreading of anti as aut: cf. Longobardic aut antiminion > aut *autiminion > aut *autim(i)nion > aut imnion. A similar form is portrayed in Dyascorides alphabeticus.
WilfGunther 17:28, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
See also: Mandragora
