Dis
Dis arabice est iuncus.
Apparatus:
iuncus (-us B) ABC f | iunctus ms. e
Translation:
Dis is Arabic for Latin iuncus {"a rush"}.
Commentary:
Cf. Vocabulista, ed. Schiaparelli (1871: 101): ﺩﻳﺳﺔ /dīsa/ Iuncus [[1]]; ed. Schiaparelli (1871: 445): JUNCUS ﺩﻳﺳﺔ /dīsa/ ﺩﻳﺲ /dīs/.
iuncus ﺩﻳﺲ /dīs/ is also listed in the Glossarium Latino-Arabicum, ed. Seybold (1900: 276) [[2]].
Dozy (1877-81: I.481), ﺩﻳﺲ /dīs/, n. d’un ﺓ, espèce de jonc à feuilles plates, dures et coupantes, dont on se sert pour faire des nattes et des cordages, pour couvrir les maisons, et nourrir les bestiaux {i.e. "a kind of rush with flat leaves, strong and sharp-edged, which are used to make mats and ropes to cover the houses and to feed to the animals"}.
Botanical identification:
Dozy also offers a number of botanical identifications: Arundo festucoides Desf., Ampelodesmos tenax Link. both now seen as one species Ampelodesmos mauritanica (POIR)T DURAND& SCHINZ [[3]], [[4]]; and Imperata cylindrica (L.) P.BEAUV. [[5]], perhaps an unlikely candidate because it was until recently, and presumably in Simon’s days, a native of India, South East Asia and East Africa.
WilfGunther 21:14, 2 September 2014 (BST)
