Punic, a. and n.
(ˈpjuːnɪk)
Also 5 -yk, 6 -ik, 7 -ike, -icke, -ique, -icque, 7–8 -ick.
[ad. L. Pūnicus, earlier Pœnicus, f. Pœnus a Carthaginian; f. Gr. ϕοῖνιξ Phœnician, Carthaginian; also purple. Cf. F. punique (15th c. in Littré).]
A. adj.
1. a. Belonging to Carthage; Carthaginian.
Punic Wars, the three wars between the Romans and Carthaginians waged between 264 and 146 b.c.
| 1533 Bellenden Livy i. viii. (S.T.S.) I. 46 Efter þe end of þe first punyk batall. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 89 Our countreymen name it Tartessos, the Carthaginians Gadir [margin Or Gadiz], which in the Punicke language signifieth the number of seven. 1869 Lecky Europ. Mor. (1877) II. v. 302 Complete dissolution of Roman morals began shortly after the Punic wars. 1908 P. E. More in Hibbert Jrnl. Apr. 608 The Punic language was still spoken by the lower order. |
b. † Punic apple (L. Pūnicum mālum, also absol. Pūnicum), the pomegranate; so † Punic-tree. Punic wax: see quot. 1848.
| [c 1440: see B. 1]. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 398 The territorie of Carthage challengeth to it selfe the Punicke apple: some call it the Pomegranat. 1641 G. Sandys Paraphr. Song Sol. iv. i, Thy Cheeks like Punicke Apples are. 1745 tr. Columella's Husb. x. 373 Soon as the punic-tree..Itself shall with its bloody blossoms cloathe. 1848 Wornum in Lect. Paint. 350 note, Punic wax (cera Punica) was..the common yellow wax, purified and bleached by being boiled three times in sea-water, with a small quantity of nitre... This wax was the Greek substitute for oil in painters' colours. |
c. Having the character attributed by the Romans to the Carthaginians; treacherous, perfidious. Punic faith: see faith n. 11 b.
| 1600 Holland Livy xxi. iv, Crueltie most savage and inhumane, falshood and trecherie more than Punicke. 1738 H. Brooke Tasso's Jerus. Del. ii. (1810) 376/1 Yes, yes, his faith attesting nations own; 'Tis Punic all, and to a proverb known! 1796 Burke Reg. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 125 An invective against the ministry of Great Britain, their habitual frauds, their proverbial punick perfidy. 1853 W. Stirling Cloister Life Chas. V 237 Astonished that a commander of so much experience should have put any trust in the Punic promises of a Moor. |
† 2. Purple; = puniceous. Obs.
| 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. i. xlvi, Purpour colour, punik and skarlote hewis. 1607 R. C[arew] tr. Estienne's World of W. 296 A punick colour, that is, yellow drawing to a red. |
B. n.
† 1. = Punic apple: see A. 1 b. rare.
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 951 Graffyng is tassure In hem of euery fruit—punyk & serue. |
† 2. An inhabitant of Carthage, a Carthaginian.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 66 The Punikes called God, Bal, (from whence came those names Hannibal, Adherbal, and such like). 1696 Brookhouse Temple Open. 13 The Punicks, the Sons of Cham, put in a Caveat. |
3. The Carthaginian tongue, a Semitic language, an offshoot of Phœnician and allied to Hebrew.
| 1673 J. Ray Observations Journey Low-Countries 308 The language of the Natives [of Malta] is a corrupt Arabic or Moresco, introduced by the Saracens, the ancient language before their coming in probably having been Greek, with a mixture of Punick. 1813 Q. Rev. Oct. 269 The Maltese is immediately derived from the modern Arabic, without any intervention from the Punic. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 646/2 Plautus..inserts in the Pœnulus whole passages in Punic. 1971 S. E. Morison European Discovery Amer.: Northern Voy. i. 11 Phoenician script is so simple that, as with the later Norse runes, it is easy for an overimaginative searcher to read Punic, like Runic, in natural grooves and scratches on rocks. |