Sunday, April 27, 2025

18.07.25: topic; the fruits of the earth [2]; Tacuinum Sānitātis (1)

First published in Baghdad in the 11th century The Taqwīm aiḥḥa is an Arabic medical work of which there are Latin versions entitled Tacuinum Sānitātis from the 14th and 15th centuries. It is primarily a health handbook, is stunningly illustrated and includes most of the vocabulary presented in the previous post. I have added a few which are appropriate to the topic:

apium, -ī [2/n]: celery; can refer to several species including types of parsley

asparagus, -ī [2/m]: asparagus; also found in the Mediaeval texts as sparagus

bēta, -ae [1/f]: beet

mēlongēna, -ae [1/f] (Mediaeval): aubergine; variants: melongiana, molongenia

porrus, -ī [2/m], porrum, -ī [2/n]: leek

spinachia, -ae [1/f]: spinach (rare, and with variant spelling)

tūber, -is [3/n]: truffle

  • bōlētus, -ī [2/m]: type of edible mushroom; bōlētus edūlis: edible mushroom
  • fungus, -ī [2/m]: mushroom

Note: some of the images have their original titles which show the Mediaeval spelling shift from /ae/ > /e/; all the Latin nouns have plural forms although a couple of English versions are uncountable:

cēpe = cēpae = onions; lactūce = lactūcae = lettuce(s); pastināce = pastinācae = carrots, parsnips; rāpe = rāpae = turnips; spinachie = spinachiae = spinach(es) 







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