myrobalanum

Latin

Alternative forms

• myrobalanus

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μυροβάλανος (murobálanos).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /my.roˈba.la.num/, [mʏrɔˈbäɫ̪änʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /mi.roˈba.la.num/, [miroˈbäːlänum]

Noun

myrobalanum n (genitive myrobalanī); second declension

1. myrobalan fruit
   • c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 23.98:

     Palma quae fert myrobalanum probatissima in Aegypto. Ossa non habet reliquarum modo in balanis, alvum et menses sistit in vino austero et vulnera conglutinat.

     • 1938 translation by W.H.S. Jones

       The palm which bears the myrobalanum, found in Egypt, is very highly esteemed. It has no stone in its dates, as other date-palms have. Taken in a dry wine it checks diarrhoea and excessive menstruation, and unites wounds.

2. myrobalan tree

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	myrobalanum	myrobalana
Genitive	myrobalanī	myrobalanōrum
Dative	myrobalanō	myrobalanīs
Accusative	myrobalanum	myrobalana
Ablative	myrobalanō	myrobalanīs
Vocative	myrobalanum	myrobalana

Descendants

• → English: myrobalan
• → French: myrobalan (learned)
• → German: Myrobalane
• Old French: mirabolan
  • Middle French: myrobolan, mirabolan, mirobolan
    • French: myrobolan
  • → Catalan: mirabolà
  • → Italian: mirabolano
• Spanish: mirobálano

References

• “myrobalanum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• myrobalanum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.