English
lupin
Lupin comes from Latin lupīnus ‘pertaining to the wolf’, and goes back to lupus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElupus‘wolf’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElupīnus‘pertaining to the wolf’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400lupin
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lupyne
- Englishearliest quotation 1922lupin
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElupus‘wolf’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElupīnus‘pertaining to the wolf’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400lupin
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lupyne
- Englishearliest quotation 1922lupin
Earliest quotation: 1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, The Old English Herbals: “Amongst the herbs to be administered when the charm…”
The story
It has also been linked to an assumed depletion of nutrients in the soil.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos ‘wolf’
through Latin lupus ‘wolf’
Today it means
noun Any member of the genus Lupinus in the family Fabaceae.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin lupus / lupin