filix

Latin

Alternative forms

felix

Etymology

Likely from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“henbane”) + -ix, a suffix akin to -ex found in other plant names (compare cārex (“sedge”), rumex (“sorrel”)). De Vaan posits that -ix is early, not a result of vowel assimilation at the Latin stage. Cognate to Welsh bele, Russian белена́ (belená), Czech blín, Middle Dutch bilse, Old English belene, German Bilsenkraut all meaning "henbane"; henbane stems are feathered like fern leaves, and both plants have medicinal properties.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfɪ.lɪks]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfiː.liks]

Noun

filix f (genitive filicis); third declension

fern

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	filix	filicēs
genitive	filicis	filicum
dative	filicī	filicibus
accusative	filicem	filicēs
ablative	filice	filicibus
vocative	filix	filicēs

Derived terms

filicātus
filictum
filicula
*filicāria

Descendants

Insular Romance:
- Sardinian: filiche, filighe, filixi, fibixi, fixibi
Balkano-Romance:
- Aromanian: fearicã
- Romanian: ferigă
Italo-Dalmatian:
- Italian: felce
- Neapolitan: felece
- Sicilian: fìlici
- Venetan: féłese, féles, félse
Rhaeto-Romance:
- Romansch: felisch
Gallo-Italic:
- Emilian: felza, filas
- Ligurian: frexa
- Lombard: feles, felse, fias, firas, felec
- Piedmontese: frais, frèis, flèis, files, fèilas, fèiles, fèils
- Romagnol: felza
Gallo-Romance:
- Franco-Provençal: fioge
- Occitan:
  Gascon: heuç
  
  Languedocien: feuse
  
  Provençal: feuse, feuve
  
  Vivaro-Alpine: feuse, feuve
- Walloon: fetchire
Ibero-Romance:
- Aragonese: felce, felz, fuelce, felche
- Galician: felgo, felga
- Portuguese: felga
⇒ Vulgar Latin: *filicaria
- Italo-Romance:
  - Italian: felciaia, felciaio (Tuscan, dialectal), Filicaja (toponym)
- Gallo-Romance:
  - Catalan: falguera, falaguera (Valencia), folguera (Tavascan), foguera (Empordà)
  - Franco-Provençal: fiogiére
  - French: fougère
  - Occitan:
    Auvergnat: fougeira, folgeira
    
    Gascon: heuguèra, hoguèra, hauguèra
    
    Languedocien: falguièra, fauguièra
    
    Limousin: faugiera
- Ibero-Romance:
  - Aragonese: feleguera, felequera, folguera, falaguera, falguera
  - Old Galician-Portuguese: felgueyra
    - Galician: folgueira, felgueira, filgueira
    - Portuguese: felgueira
⇒ Late Latin: filicula, filicicula
- Catalan: falzilla
- → Italian: filicola
Borrowings:
- → Interlingua: filice

References

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “filix, -cis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 220