Etymology
The Online Etymology Dictionary presents the customary derivations of plum and prune from Latin prūnum, the plum fruit. The tree is prūnus; and Pliny prūnus silvestris to mean the blackthorn. The word is not native Latin, but is a loan from Greek προῦνον (prounon), which is a variant of προῦμνον (proumnon), origin unknown. The tree is προύμνη (proumnē). Most dictionaries follow Hoffman, Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen, in making some form of the word a loan from a pre-Greek language of Asia Minor, related to Phrygian.
The first use of Prunus as a genus name was by Linnaeus in Hortus Cliffortianus of 1737, which went on to become Species Plantarum. In that work, Linnaeus attributes the word to "Varr.", who it is assumed must be Marcus Terentius Varro.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
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