noun · femininefirst declension
bāca
bāca f (genitive bācae)
Classical[ˈbaː.ka]Ecclesiastical[ˈbaː.ka]
Meaning
- various small fruit of trees and shrubs: a berry, stone fruit (including olives, cherries)
Et hāctenus sint speciēs ac genera pōmōrum: nātūrās artius colligī pār est. alia siliquīs distinguntur, ipsīs dulcibus sēmenque conplexīs amārum, cum in plūribus sēmina placeant, in siliquā damnentur; alia bācīs, quārum intus lignum et extrā carō, ut olīvīs, cerasīs; aliquōrum intus bācae, forīs lignum, ut iīs quae in Aegyptō dīximus gignī. quae bācīs nātūra, eadem et pōmīs.
23 CE – 79 CE, Plinius Maior, Naturalis historia 16.219 - an olive fruit in particular, an olive-berry
Venit hiems: teritur Sicyonia baca trapetis, glande sues laeti redeunt, dant arbuta silvae; et varios ponit fetus autumnus et alte
Translation by James B. Greenough Winter is come: in olive-mills they bruise The Sicyonian berry; acorn-cheered The swine troop homeward; woods their arbutes yield; So, various fruit sheds Autumn, and high up On sunny rocks the mellowing vintage bakes.c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 2.519 - a pearl
- a coral bead or piece
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
frūctus parvus arborisbāca -ae (f) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 16, 20
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | bāca bācula | bācae baccae, bāculae |
| genitive | bācae baccae, bāculae | bācārum baccārum, bāculārum |
| dative | bācae baccae, bāculae | bācīs baccīs, bāculīs |
| accusative | bācam baccam, bāculam | bācās baccās, bāculās |
| ablative | bācā bāculā | bācīs baccīs, bāculīs |
| vocative | bāca bācula | bācae baccae, bāculae |
bāca (less correctly bacca), ae, f. acc. to Benfey, for bacsa, kindred with Sanscr. bhaksh, edere, vorare; cf. also bhaxa, food; but v. Vaniček, Etym. Wörterb. 2, p. 561,
I. a small round fruit, a berry.
I. Lit.
A. In gen. (cf.:
acinus, glans): virgas murteas cum bacis servare, Cato, R. R. 101; Ov. M. 11, 234: lauri, Verg. G. 1, 306: tinus, Ov. M. 10, 98: ebuli, Verg. E. 10, 27: cupressi, Plin. 16, 27, 50, § 115: platani, id. 15, 7, 7, § 29: hyssopi, id. 26, 12, 76, § 124 al.—B. Esp. freq. the olive:
agricola cum florem oleae videt, bacam quoque se visurum putat, Cic. Div. 2, 6, 16; Hor. S. 2, 4, 69; id. Ep. 1, 16, 2; Ov. M. 6, 81; 8, 295; cf. Mart. 13, 101.—C. Esp., absol., in the poets of the olive, Hor. C. 2, 6, 16:
quot Sicyon bacas, quot parit Hybla favos, Ov. P. 4, 15, 10.—As sacred to Minerva: ponitur hic bicolor sincerae baca Minervae, Ov. M. 8, 664; 13, 653.—And of the fruit of the wild olive-tree, Ov. M. 14, 525; cf. Verg. G. 2, 183.—II. Transf.
A. In gen., any fruit of a tree, * Lucr. 5, 1363:
arbores seret diligens agricola, quarum aspiciet bacam ipse numquam, Cic. Tusc. 1, 14, 31: fruges terrae, bacaeque arborum, id. Div. 1, 51, 116; so id. Sen. 2, 5: rami bacarum ubertate incurvescere, id. poët. ap. Tusc. 1, 28, 69 (Trag. Rel. inc. inc. v. 135 Rib.); cf. id. de Or. 3, 38, 154: semen inclusum est in intimā parte earum bacarum, quae ex quāque stirpe funduntur, id. N. D. 2, 51, 127: fruges atque bacae, id. Leg. 1, 8, 25: felices, Sil. 15, 535.—B. That which is like a berry in shape.
1. A pearl:
marita, quae Onusta bacis ambulet, Hor. Epod. 8, 14: aceto Diluit insignem bacam, id. S. 2, 3, 241; so Ov. M. 10, 116; 10, 265; Verg. Cul. 67; Claud. IV. Cons. Hon. 592; id. Nupt. Hon. et Mar. 167; id. Laud. Stil. 2, 88; id. VI. Cons. Hon. 528.—2. The dung of sheep or goats, Pall. Jan. 14, 3.—
3. A link of a chain in the shape of a berry, Prud. στεφ. 1, 46; so id. Psych. prooem. 33.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
bāca (not bacca), ae, f
a small round fruit, berry: bicolores, O.: lauri, V.: ebuli, V.: oleae, an olive: olivae, H.: bicolor Minervae, the olive, O.: bacae amarae, i. e. of the wild olive-tree, O.: silvestres, V. — A fruit of a tree: (arborum): rami bacarum ubertate incurvescere.—A pearl: Onusta bacis, H.: aceto Diluit bacam, H.
Origins
Unknown. Possibly: * If from Proto-Indo-European, it may be connected to Lithuanian bapkas (“berry, laurel”), which renders a sound-symbolic root *bab- (“to be round; small fruit”), evolving into *bab-ca and finally bā̆(c)ca (with compensatory lengthening or gemination). This etymology suffers from phonological problems as well as the paucity of cognates, but for the alternation compare the pairs cippus : cīpus and littera : lītera. * Somehow related to Ancient Greek Βάκχος (Bákkhos, “Bacchus; twig used as a symbol of Bacchus?”), which cannot be inherited and may be Pre-Greek or Anatolian in origin. * More likely, from a local substrate source perhaps shared with Proto-Berber *bqā (“blackberry, mulberry, shrub berry”).
Elsewhere
- Italianbacca
- Romanianbacăfrom Italian bacca
- Italianvago
- Frenchbaiefrom Old French baie
- Catalanbaiafrom Old French baie
- Englishbayfrom Old French baie
- Spanishbayafrom Old French baie
- Dutchbeifrom Old French baie
Ibero-Romance
- Portuguesebaga
- Spanishbaga
- Spanishbaca
- Asturianbaga
- Galicianbaga