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Why most of the tree names in Latin are femininum? Is there any historical/etymological reason for it?

  • quercus [quercūs, f.]
  • betula [betulæ, f.]
  • alnus [alni, f.]
  • fraxinus [fraxini, f.]
  • populus [populi, f.]
  • cedrus [cedri, f.]
  • castanea [castaneæ, f.]
  • ulmus [ulmi, f.]
  • abiēs [abietis, f.]
  • corylus [coryli, f.]
  • aquifolium [aquifolii, n.]
  • carpinus [carpini, f.]
  • larix [laricis, f.]
  • salix [salicis, f.]

only exceptions I found:

  • sambucus [sambuci, m.]
  • acer [aceris, n.]
Petr Chloupek
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    Welcome to the site! Take a look at these two questions and comments under them: one and two. Unfortunately neither has received an answer. – Joonas Ilmavirta Apr 03 '22 at 14:14
  • Thanks, it seems that it is more interesting than I originally thought. – Petr Chloupek Apr 03 '22 at 15:32
  • Hi Petr. We'll close this for now since it's a duplicate of the other two. Not sure which of the other two are the best to keep open. It is an interesting question (which I suppose is why it keeps getting asked!), so I hope someone attempts at least a partial answer soon. Let me know if you have any questions about this process. – cmw Apr 03 '22 at 18:52
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    I'll just add that the exceptions are false positives: sambūcus the m. means "sambuca player", and acer is almost certainly a lexicographical error due to misinterpretation - the neuter usage in Ovid refers to maple wood the material; in Pliny the neuter adjectives modify genus "kind, type" and not the tree-name. – Unbrutal_Russian Apr 04 '22 at 10:15
  • thanks for the explanation. – Petr Chloupek Apr 04 '22 at 12:04

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