Difference between revisions of "Cinosorkis"

Revision as of 12:59, 24 July 2015

Cinosorkis grece est dictu canis testiculus et est species satirionis ut infra in sa.

Apparatus:

Cinosorkis | Cinosorchis p

dictu ABC | dictum

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:

Greek κυνὸς ὄρχις /kynòs órkhis/ literally means “testicle of a dog”. The word is still written in non-compound form in the Greek Dioscorides, cf. Wellmann vol. II, book III, pp. 136, chapter 126: 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, [Loeb] vol. VII, book XXVII, p.428, chapter xlii, § 65, and as quinosorcin {Greek accusative} in Dioscorides Longobardus, book III, pp. 432/433, chapter ΡΛϚ' (136) 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) p. 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Cynosorchis has survived as a genus name for certain orchids but is now superseded by Cynorkis, a change introduced by John Lindley in approximation to the English pronunciation.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 p. 195 s,v, Cynórkis).

WilfGunther 14:51, 21 July 2015 (BST)

See also Orchis (1) , Orchis (2) , Satirion, Testiculus vulpis