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[NABOKOV-L] Caro Van
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On Apr 13, 2010, Alexey Sklyarenko wrote re "caro Van" in my previous post: caro is Latin for "flesh", but the phrase seems to mean "dear Van" in Italian.
Carolyn Kunin: You are confusing caro and carne - - that's Italian, but I'm pretty sure the Latin is similar.
JM: Alexey's reference to caro,carnis" ( Latin, for "meat/flesh") surprised me. It is found in the internet - but not in regular dictionaries of Portuguese when we search after the etymology of "carne" (as in "carnivorous", "carnal love", "incarnate", aso).
What I found out, though, is that the Latin, contrary to C.Kunin's supposition, is not "similar" in both cases. Caro (with the meaning of "dear", "cher", expensive or beloved) bears no relation to "carnis" but derives from "carus." Nevertheless, the word "caruncle" indicates a meaty excrescence, and scabous wounds resulting from "acarus" are associated to flesh.
That's as far as I'm able to go. I don't think Nabokov had "carnal" in mind in "Caro Van"...that's certain.
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