gingiva

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin gingīvabor.

English gingiva

Borrowed from Latin gingīva (“gums”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɪvə/, /d͡ʒɪnˈd͡ʒaɪvə/
• Rhymes: -aɪvə

Noun

gingiva (plural gingivae)

1. (anatomy) The gum, consisting of the tissue surrounding the roots of the teeth and covering the jawbone.

Derived terms

• gingival
• gingivectomy
• gingivitis

Translations

gum — see gum

Latin

Etymology

Unknown.

• (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁- (compare English chew, Tocharian B śuwaṃ (“eat”), Polish żuję (“I chew”), Persian جویدن (javidan), Pashto ژول (žovạl, “to bite, gnaw”)).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɡɪŋˈɡiː.wa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒin̠ʲˈd͡ʒiː.va]

Noun

gingīva f (genitive gingīvae); first declension

1. (anatomy) gum (in which the teeth are set)

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	gingīva	gingīvae
genitive	gingīvae	gingīvārum
dative	gingīvae	gingīvīs
accusative	gingīvam	gingīvās
ablative	gingīvā	gingīvīs
vocative	gingīva	gingīvae

Descendants

• Aragonese: cheniva
• Aromanian: dzindzii, dzindzie
• Asturian: enxiva, xenxiva
• Catalan: geniva
• → English: gingiva
• Extremaduran: gengiva
• Franco-Provençal: gengiva
• French: gencive
• Friulian: zenzie
• Galician: enxiva
• Italian: gengiva
• Lombard: zenziva
• Norman: denchive
• Occitan: gengiva
• Piedmontese: zanziva
• Portuguese: gengiva
• Romanian: gingie
• Sardinian: ghinghía, sénsia, benzía
• Sicilian: gingili, cincili, zinzìa
• Spanish: encía
• Venetan: zinzìva, zenzìva, xenxìva

Further reading

• “gingiva”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “gingiva”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “gingiva”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.