Cinosorkis
Cinosorkis grece est dictu canis testiculus et est species satirionis ut infra in sa.
Apparatus:
Cinosorkis | Cinosorchis p
dictu ABC | dictum efjp
satirionis | satyrionis j
Translation:
Cinosorkis is a Greek name which when translated means ‘dog’s testicle’, and it is a kind of satirion, as stated below in the entry Satirion.
Commentary:
Cinosorkis:
Greek κυνὸς ὄρχις /kynòs órkhis/ literally means “testicle of a dog”. The word is still written in non-compound form in the Greek Dioscorides, 3, 126, ed. Wellmann (1906-14: II.136): ὄρχις• /órkhis:/ οἱ δὲ κυνὸς ὄρχιν καλοῦσι /hoi dè kynòs órkhin kaloûsi/ - “/órkhis/: some call it /kynòs órkhis/”, but Wellmann mentions a v.l. κυνόρχις /kynórkhis/ in his apparatus, found in Oribasius.
The word also occurs in its Latinised form in Pliny cynosorchis, 27, 42, 65, ed. Rackham (1938-63: VII.428), and as quinosorcin {Greek accusative} in Dioscorides Longobardus, 3, 136, ed. Stadler (1899: 432-3), De orcis [[1]]. Cf. also Dyascorides alphabeticus [Bodmer] f 57 r, chimosortĩ {‘n’ misread as ‘m’, ‘c’ misread as ‘t’; -ĩ = -in shows the Greek accusative form} [[2]].
Botanical identification:
André (1985: 84): s.v. cynosorchis mentions Orchis papilionacea L. {syn. of Anacamptis papilionacea (L.) R.M. Bateman [[3]] or Orchis longicrus Link. (syn. of Orchis italica Poir. 1798) [[4]] as possible identifications.
Cynosorchis has survived as a genus name for certain orchids but is now superseded by Cynorkis, a change introduced by John Lindley in approximation to the English pronunciation. The name describes the testicle shaped root tuber {Genaust (1996: 195), s,v, Cynórkis].
WilfGunther 14:51, 21 July 2015 (BST)
See also Orchis (1) , Orchis (2) , Satirion, Testiculus vulpis
