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Dr. Alexander Kohut in Arukh Completum (vol. 2 p. 314) claims that the Latin word hortus (and its Greek etymon), which means "garden" also refers to a woman's private parts (I'm assuming the vagina). The context in which he says this is rabbinic exegesis which explains the Hebrew word "garden" as referring to a woman. Kohut has been known to sometimes make things up, but other times he's right on the mark. So I was wondering if my colleagues here can either confirm or deny Kohut's claim.

Adam
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Reb Chaim HaQoton
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    As an aside, κῆπος is in no sense the etymon of hortus. Greek has a cognate of Latin hortus in χόρτος 'feeding place; fodder' (which is not used for the pudenda muliebria), but not an etymon; the Latin is not derived from the Greek. – Cairnarvon Sep 07 '23 at 17:43
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    These kinds of metaphors are quite common even in folklore songs in modern langauges. In Czech and Moravian folklore songs a garden can often mean the female crotch area or female virginity. Often young ladies protect their gardens, sometimes there is a flower inside that must not be picked by anyone. But often enough only the garden is mentioned. – Vladimir F Героям слава Sep 08 '23 at 12:30
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    @VladimirFГероямслава "lady garden" is a somewhat twee euphemism not infrequently made fun of in English-language comedy today – Tristan Sep 08 '23 at 14:21
  • @Cairnarvon I don't see κῆπος mentioned in this question, only in cmw's answer which doesn't refer to it as an etymon. The rest of your comment is good, but I'm confused about the start of it, is there another comment that has been hidden or deleted? – Tristan Sep 08 '23 at 14:22
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    @Tristan It's mentioned in the linked text (fourth line of the left column). – Cairnarvon Sep 08 '23 at 14:28
  • thanks, I hadn't clicked through before, and can't read the Hebrew regardless (so can't give tell the context) – Tristan Sep 08 '23 at 14:32
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    "My garden has not been plowed of late." – Deipatrous Sep 08 '23 at 16:13
  • Note that "vagina" itself is often used as a euphemism in English. Strictly speaking, the term refers to the internal part, while "vulva" refers to the externally visible features. (The same as calling one's belly a "stomach".) – Ray Butterworth Sep 09 '23 at 13:14
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    @RayButterworth I don't think that's euphemism, just metonymy. And whilst it is true that in technical language the vagina is only the internal canal, from a descriptive POV it's clear that in informal speech the word refers to the vulva and vagina together – Tristan Sep 09 '23 at 21:07

2 Answers2

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This information is a bit difficult to find in the classic dictionaries, because they tend to be quite squeamish about explaining sexual things! But here's what Lewis and Short have to say about it.

IIC: Like the Gr. κῆπος, i.q. pudendum muliebre, Poët. ap. Anth. Lat. I. p. 686 Burm.; also the posteriors of a boy, Auct. Priap. 5.

Pudendum muliebre is Latin for "that womanly thing you should be ashamed about", i.e. the genitals. So it seems that, indeed, both Latin hortus and Greek κῆπος can be used as euphemisms for the vagina. LSJ confirm this for κῆπος, which they define as "III. pudenda muliebria, D.L.2.116." (Pudenda muliebria is just the plural of pudendum muliebre.)

Lewis and Short say that it can also be used for a man's anus in a sexual sense, presumably transferred from the "vagina" meaning, but LSJ don't mention that for Greek, so that may be a metaphor that was only used in Latin (or maybe it was also used in Greek, just not often enough for LSJ to list it).

Draconis
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    Is the answer yes or no? – user1271772 Sep 08 '23 at 14:35
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    @user1271772 does it need to be one or the other? Which it should be depends on where you draw the line between ad-hoc euphemistic metaphor and established sense, which different people can disagree with. Providing all the facts, as this answer does allows the reader to make that judgement themselves which is much more useful than a yes or no would be – Tristan Sep 08 '23 at 14:48
  • @Tristan I disagree with you. While this answer is better than the other one, because it says what Pudendum muliebre means, it does not make the answer to the question clear. – user1271772 Sep 08 '23 at 15:03
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    @user1271772 The answer is yes: "both Latin hortus and Greek κῆπος can be used as euphemisms for the vagina". – Draconis Sep 08 '23 at 16:45
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    @user1271772 Did you actually read the answer? It says quite plainly that the answer is yes. Answers don’t have to have a huge, bold ‘yes’ or ‘no’ at the top to be adequate answers to a question. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Sep 09 '23 at 01:59
  • After the author's most recent comment I gave a +1 because the answer became a clear "yes". That comment wouldn't have been necessary or even sensible, if it was that clear in the original post. – user1271772 Sep 09 '23 at 03:25
  • @user1271772 I apologize if it didn't come across clearly. That comment was a quote from the original answer. – Draconis Sep 09 '23 at 03:41
  • But not entirely. – user1271772 Sep 09 '23 at 03:57
  • @user1271772 Let's say Draconis stays in the tradition of the old linguists when he is a bit circumspect in his wording ;-). – Peter - Reinstate Monica Sep 11 '23 at 08:48
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Yes, it has been used in this way, and no, Kohut is not making it up. Lewis and Short mention the relevant passages:

C. Like the Gr. κῆπος, i. q. pudendum muliebre, Poët. ap. Anth. Lat. I. p. 686 Burm.; also the posteriors of a boy, Auct. Priap. 5.

You can probably guess which anatomical part is meant here. These 19th century dictionaries were often a bit shy, so they put vulgar sexual terms in Latin instead of English.

All the attestations, both in Latin here and in Greek, so there's no saying when this metaphor developed, but it's probably only that, a metaphor and naught more. Similarly, Aristophanes uses πεδίον as a metaphor for "the pudenda muliebre". There's nothing stopping writers from making those sort of metaphors, though that doesn't mean every writer would immediately make the connection, or that it exists in any and every passage.

cmw
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    Nathan Bailey, An Universal Etymological English Dictionary, 8th ed. London 1737, p. 18 " HORTUS [by some Writers] the privy Parts of a Woman. " Also, in Shakespeare's Sonnet 16 one finds: " Now stand you on the top of happy hours, And many maiden gardens, yet unset, " – njuffa Sep 07 '23 at 22:40
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    The dividing line between an established meaning and occasional metaphorical use is hard to draw even for current language. Take e.g. “My anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns, hun.” The euphemistic intent of anaconda is clear, but only as a metaphor in context; in itself, we’d usually think of anaconda as just meaning the actual large reptile. On the other hand the euphemistic sense of buns is well-established enough that we’d expect a good dictionary to list it. Shakespeare’s maiden gardens seems nearer the contextual-only end of this spectrum; where does hortus fall? – Peter LeFanu Lumsdaine Sep 07 '23 at 23:43
  • Is the answer yes or no? – user1271772 Sep 08 '23 at 14:34
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    @PeterLeFanuLumsdaine You can use almost any word as a euphemism for genitalia, it's the context that often makes it obvious. "Did you see that guy in his speedo? He obviously has a huge frog.": – Barmar Sep 08 '23 at 14:36
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    @user1271772 does it need to be one or the other? Which it should be depends on where you draw the line between ad-hoc euphemistic metaphor and established sense, which different people can disagree with. Providing all the facts, as this answer does allows the reader to make that judgement themselves which is much more useful than a yes or no would be – Tristan Sep 08 '23 at 14:48
  • @Tristan I disagree with you. This post does not answer the question in the title. – user1271772 Sep 08 '23 at 15:01
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    @user1271772 I thought the answer was understood from context, but hopefully my edit made it clearer. – cmw Sep 08 '23 at 15:08
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    @PeterLeFanuLumsdaine it is worth mentioning that there is a line in Plautus' Pseudolus where someone says: "When the soldier went on his watch at night and you went with him, did his sword fit in your scabbard?" and that is apparently the only evidence anywhere that the word vagina (scabbard) had a sexual meaning in pre-medieval Latin (and even then, the person this is addressed to appears to be male). – Sebastian Koppehel Sep 08 '23 at 18:33
  • @SebastianKoppehel That reminds me of this question. – cmw Sep 08 '23 at 22:37
  • @SebastianKoppehel Interesting! I didn't know that! – Draconis Sep 09 '23 at 02:39
  • @cmw thanks, the edit makes it a lot clearer! – user1271772 Sep 09 '23 at 17:22