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FLESHY CARNATIONS

11/28/2020

2 Comments

 
The first attestation we have of the noun carnation in English is from a 1533 French language textbook, when it was used to describe the rosy pink color of the flowers, with their name developing from that sense only a few years later. The word was borrowed, unsurprisingly, from French, where it was spelled the same way and also referred to the hue. Beyond that, spellings vary and etymologists have hotly debated the origin. One theory was that it was at least in part influenced by the word coronation, because of the crown-like resemblance of the petals. The Oxford English Dictionary, however, suggests that it's from the Latin word carnatio, meaning "fleshiness", the connection again being the color. Finally, I've written about this before, but carnatio is from Latin caro and Proto-Indo-European sker, meaning "flesh" and "cut", respectively.
2 Comments
S.S.
3/5/2021 12:06:08 pm

Hello, Adam Aleksic:

I have to say that I do not agree with you because...
First of all, carnation is a polysemic word.
Secondly, all the possibilities you list don't fit all the meanings.
Thirdly, we must choose the etimology that makes completely sense for each specific meaning.

Carnations, as flowers, have nothing to be with a religious aspect.
As a Linguistics, those flowers come in different types, sizes and colour patterns. People generalise those with the unusual shape that more or less carnations repeat and all of us feel attracted to.

Hope that's of help and good day.

_____S.S.
The essential is invisible to the eye.

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S.S.
3/5/2021 12:12:06 pm

I forgot to write down that is crown-shaped.

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    Hello! I'm Adam Aleksic, a senior studying government and linguistics at Harvard University, where I co-founded the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society. In addition to etymology, I also really enjoy trivia, politics, vexillology, geography, board games, conlanging, art history, and law. 
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