In Search of Traces of the Mandrake Myth – The Etymological, Historical, and Ethnobotanical Roots of Its Vernacular Names

Amots Dafni (  adafni@research.haifa.ac.il ) University of Haifa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9841-1662 Cesar Blanché University of Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona Salekh Aqil Khatib Institute of Evolution Theodora Petanidou University of the Aegean: Panepistemio Aigaiou Bedrettin Aytaç Ankara University: Ankara Universitesi Ettore Pacini University of Siena: Universita degli Studi di Siena Ekaterina Kohazurova University of So a Saint Kliment Ohridski: So jski universitet Sv Kliment Ohridski Aharon Geva-Kleinberger University of Haifa Soli Shahvar University of Haifa Zora Dajic University of Belgrade: Univerzitet u Beogradu Helmut W. Klug University of Graz: Karl-Franzens-Universitat Graz Guillermo Benítez University of Granada Faculty of Pharmacy: Universidad de Granada Facultad de Farmacia


Introduction
Gledhill [1:1-2] noted that "Common plant names present language at its richest and most imaginative (sic!).… Local variations in common names are numerous and this is perhaps a re ection of the importance of the plant in general conversation in the kitchen and in herbalism throughout the country in bygone days." Some names refer unequivocally to a speci c plant species (monosemic name), while other names can be used for different plants (polysemic names). The proliferation of names for individual botanical species is related to a variety of factors: the geographical range of the plant and languages spoken in its area, 3. Several sources used the name "mandrake" when the botanical identity is that of species of other genera such as: Atropa (rev. [12]), Bryonia (see [32:111; 33:193; 11:144], and Podophyllum [34: 35:495]. Also, less frequently other species such as: Datura stramonium L., Valeriana o cinalis L., Aconitum tauricum Wulfen, Gratiola o cinalis L., Hyoscyamus niger L., Leonurus cardiaca L., Cicuta virosa L. and Peganum harmala L. [36: [3][4], Chelidonium majus L. [37 :273], Allium victorialis L. [38: [120][121] and Tamus communis L. [39 :204] were named "mandrake." Thus, it is not surprising that Eliade [40] in his famous article "The Cult of Mandragora in Romania" referred to Atropa belladonna L. as "mandrake" and not Mandragora o cinarum (that was previously in the genus Atropa, which is not indigenous to Romania). As a result, since several authors cited Eliade's work (e.g. [41][42][43][44]), Atropa belladonna was related to Mandragora. 4. In the literature, several times a name is given from a certain language as a proper name from a different language. For example, the mandrake names antropophora and xērà ánthē are regarded as "Latin" names as in the consulted works (Dioscorides' Materia Medica [45]) are considered so, but these have been directly transcribed to Latin from Greek, and these names are probably better considered as just Greek names and were omitted from our analysis. 5. In the same sense, in some territories, a certain name may have arrived not as a vernacular name but with migrants, sellers, or any citizen (coming from the same territory-language as the visitor), or from the medical literature, together with medical texts. In these cases, names could be better interpreted as a cultural migration and not as a vernacular name. An example is the name mandragora in Catalan. Once it is explained that the origin of this name is more probably Greek than Latin, and since Catalan is a Romance language, it seems that the very rst references recorded in Catalan in the thirteenth-to-fourteenth centuries ( rstly: mandrágola; secondly: madragora; see [46]) come from originally Arabic contexts and are later inserted in medical (o cial medieval medicine) texts. The reference to "mandrágola" is even earlier than "mandràgora" and comes from the rst scienti c texts written in Catalan.

Data presentation
Spelling variants of the same name were pooled into the same cell in the tables and counted only once. To avoid repetition, we cited each author only once in the relevant cell even if he presents several spelling variants. This method had no in uence on our conclusions. Sometimes, especially with respect to alraune in German, distinguishing between a "derivative" (i.e., derivatives from a generic name, as mandragora or alraune) and a "spelling variant" (e.g., mandracola instead of mandragora in Spanish; about sixty variations are scattered in the literature; see Table 1), is quite arbitrary. The same is the case with regard to transcriptional corruptions of Farsi and Arabic names in European languages (e.g., abrusanam and yabroukh).
Aphrodisiac. D. Magic and witchcraft: 1. Black magic -sorcery, witchcraft, and magic, Bad luck, Evil eye; 2. Evil supernatural agents, Satan, the devil, genie, monster, dragon. 3 White magic -Good luck, talisman, dolls. E. Pulling-out ceremonies: 1. Screaming, groaning and voices; 2. Use of a dog; 3. Shining and lights; F. Plant conception: Gallows and hanging: 1. Plant originated from human semen, urine; 2. Creation of Adam. G: Relationship to historical and mythological characters: 1 King Solomon, Circe, and Prometheus; 2 Elephant. NC: Not classi ed. There are other names whose meaning/origin is not clear, or they are not related to any of the above-de ned categories. A very few names (e.g., Mandragora mannetje ["Mandrake man"] and pisduiveltje ["Little piss devil"] in Dutch) may be classi ed into two categories. In these cases, we decided on the category according to relevance in the original text.

Results
Our database with 296 names for the plant covered, as mentioned, a total of forty-two languages spoken from antiquity to the present day in the area where Mandragora o cinarum (including M. autumnalis) is widely distributed and/or used. This includes two dead languages (Latin and Old German). There are nine languages for which more than ten vernacular names for mandrake were recorded (see Table 8; Figure 1). It is somehow surprising that four of these nine languages are not from the territory in which the plant is native (German, Dutch, English, French), and that at least in one more (Serbian) the plant has been considered extinct [47], while in Greece, Arabic countries of North Africa, Spain, and Turkey, it is currently wild [22]. These nine languages cover 74% of all names, while the remaining thirty-three languages represent 26% of names.

Discussion
Derivatives of "generic" names The etymon of "mandragora": The origin of the Greek μανδραγόρας is obscure [41: 115; 91:256; 149:316]. The main suggestions to explain the origin of this name are as follows: 1. Persian origin from mardum-giyah (plant-man) [41: 115; 208:237]. This idea is rejected by Asatrian [100] based on the arguments that this plant has no name in old Persian texts and because in the historical period it was already an extinct (or sporadic) species within the oristic nomenclature of Iran.
We found 25 names in 21 languages in which the plant is called mandragora and/or its derivatives.
Most of the variants were in Greek (8) and in Italian (6), and most of the derivatives are from European languages (except one in Turkish and one in Georgian). We consider this as an indirect evidence for the European (Greek) origin of the derivatives of this name (Table 1). It seems that this is a kind of indirect evidence for the Greek origin of this name, as stated in, e.g., the Dictionary of the Real Academia de la Lengua (Spanish; [214]).
Asatrian [100]) analyzed the Farsi names and concluded that the origin of the name mandragora is Greek and not Iranian.
The etymon of "alraun": Mandrake in modern German is known as 'der Alraun' or 'die Alraune,' which indicates the idea of a male and a female of the plant by referring to the shape of the root (two roots: female; more than two roots: male [215:34] [216]. The German name is composed of the pre x 'al-' and the stem 'rune'. All etymological explanations of the name are highly speculative [215:34], but all try to surpass each other in adding mystery to the history of the plant name. There are several theories on its origin: 1. The name might be associated with the seeress Albrûna (Lat. Aurinia), who lived during the rst century and is documented in Tacitus's Germania [30:22]; the theory is labeled highly unlikely [215:34]. This theory can be found in Grimm [217, I:404-5], who relates that the names alrūne/alrūn (and the Nordic Aelfrûn, [215:34]), to be identi ed with a wise-woman of the (Teutonic) antiquity from its old sense of a prophetic and diabolic spirit, has at length passed into that of the root (mandragora).
Combinations of these word parts suggest that the name means either "whispers/secrets of incubi," or "knowing all magic," or "mighty secret" [208:237; 215:34]. Referring to the highly uncertain etymology of the name, Kluge [215:34]) also but hesitantly suggests the meanings "highly cleft" or "covered with wrinkles" as possible etymological interpretations.
We found 9 names in 7 languages in which the plant is called alraune and/or its derivatives. Most of these occur in different German variants (32); two variants are in Serbian and the rest are Scandinavian languages. 3. Ascherson [191:890] mentions that today's name for mandrake in Syria is [ĝerâbûḥ ], which is likely an intentional corruption of the literary Arabic name [jabrùḥ ], which would not provide the Syrians with a suitable meaning, whereas bûḥ , the nal syllable of [ĝerâbûḥ ], denotes sex drive, and thus the word can be given the meaning of "aphrodisiac," as indeed the mandrake fruits were considered to be (in Genesis 30, 14) and still are today.
5. Nathan Ben Yeshaya (Yemen 14 th c.) explains: "yabroukh, since its nature is that the one who pulls it out will lose his spirit" [229:151].
6. According to Ibn Sina, ""jabrol" (a derivative of yabroukh) is the root of the mandrake and could be a name for any natural object, for instance a growing plant, in human shape (Ibn Sina, Canon of Medicine, Lib. II, Trsacii, Cap 365; cited by [230:70]. [231:245] suggest that [yabruĥ] comes from Arabic [yâ-abu-er-ruĥ], which means "O master of breath," (but in Aramaic it is the opposite meaning; see [232:169].

Fleisher and Fleisher
We found 8 names in 5 languages in which the plant is called [yabroukh] and/or its derivatives. Its derivatives appear only in Arabic (6), Aramaic (3), and Bengali (1). The Farsi name [sāyeh-borūj] may also be related to this group. Names related to the plant's morphological characteristics Names related to morphological characteristics are the most frequent ones in all languages (up to 81 names within this category, 27% of total names, see Figure 2), especially those connected with the root form and the similarity with other plants.
Root: Mandrake is a classic exemplar of the "Doctrine of Signatures": this could be stated as form recapitulating function-physical characteristics of plants reveal their therapeutic value [233:256]. The root resembles the human form (anthropomorphic) -symbolically, it is equivalent to the "root" of the human being, sexuality, and further, to fertility [11:144] and love philtres [234,II:715].
Schultes and Hoffmann [117:185] suggest that the European fear of the mandrake during the Middle Ages was due to Doctrine of Signatures. It was Pythagoras (in Dioscorides Materia Medica I.570 [45, I.570]) who gave the name anthropomorphos (which means "shaped like a man," ανθρωπομορφος) to the mandrake. It is not surprising that 33 names in 13 languages are connected to the similarity of the mandrake's root to the human body, of which 7 are in German, 6 in Dutch, and 4 in French. Thus, the anthropomorphic view of the mandrake, as re ected in its names, appears especially in western European languages.
Leaves, fruits, and seeds: Few names are related to the shape of the leaves of the mandrake such as: loshtak ["ear"] in Armenian, [" ve-veined plant"] in Turkish, and papútsa ["shoe-shaped leaves"] in Greek. These names are also related to other plant species. The Arabic name [š'bysk] originated from Farsi šā(h)-"black" (cf. šāh-tūt) and bīzak "seed, grain," meaning "(a plant with) black (dark) seeds." Isidore of Seville (Archbishop of Seville, c. 560 -636 CE) wrote [84:351]: "Mandrake (mandragora) is so called because it has a sweet-smelling fruit the size of a Matian apple; hence Latin speakers call it "apple of the earth." 19 names in 7 languages denote the resemblance of the mandrake to the apple. Many other names, such as ["dog's apple,"] and ["Devil's apple"] are assigned to other categories.
Similarity to other plants: Although the mandrake is a well known and very distinctive plant, sometimes its name refers to another plant. This could be because the other plant is better known locally, usually because it offers big, edible fruits (such as names related to apples, tomatoes, or even loquat). Such names are, e.g., ["wild tomato"] in Italian, ["eggplant"] in Spanish and Arabic, and ["earth loquat"] in Turkish. Conversely, we should mention here that the name "mandrake" has been also used for other plant species (see Introduction).

Names related to the plant's uses
Medicinal properties: Mandrake (Mandragora spp.) is perhaps the most famous medicinal plant in western culture since biblical times and throughout written history. This view has been clearly expressed by several authors, with statements such as: "Of all the medicinal herbs used in the ancient and medieval world, none was regarded with as much fear or wonder as the mandrake" [235:189]). Harrison [171;91] mentions that the plant's medicinal virtues appear to have been discovered at a remote point in the development of ancient cultures, and although magical and superstitious beliefs tended to accompany its use, it seems clear that the narcotic qualities of the mandrake were appreciated through the entire period of its usage. Therefore, it is not surprising that "there is no medicinal plant known around which cluster more mysterious and quaint associations than around mandragora" [236:6]. Mandrake was considered a panacea, especially in the Middle Ages [237]. In Wright's [238:182] words, "Mandrake is a cure for all except death." Thus, it is not at all surprising to nd 11 names in 7 languages. Eleven names re ect the importance of the mandrake as a panacea down the generations. It is noteworthy to mention the names ["Father of health"] in Arabic and Turkish, and ["Doctor's plant"] in German. The Armenian name ["King of all grasses"] deserves special attention. Arakelova [101:153] mentions that in the Armenian folk tradition, the mandrake is "the king of all plants." Its obvious sacred meaning among Armenians and its high estimation as a real panacea is proved by the existence of a special prayer-praise called Aγot'k' vasn loštakin, ["the Prayer to the mandrake"] Narcotic, hallucinogenic, poisonous: Hyoscyamine and scopolamine (or hyoscine) stand out among the major tropane alkaloids in mandrake [242], although several other alkaloids are present [243,244; 245; 231; 246; 247]. These tropane alkaloids are antagonists of muscarinic receptors (thus, with parasympatholytic effect), and have been described as having psychedelic and hallucinogenic properties. In higher doses, they may cause chronic spasms, a strong heartbeat, tachycardia, dilation of the pupil, inhibition of salivation, respiratory arrest, and coma. Therefore, mandrake was regarded as extremely hazardous to the level of being a mind-altering substance [242].
These widely known effects (narcotic, hallucinogenic, and poisonous) are re ected in 21 names in 8 languages. Out of these, six names are related to the somniferous effect of the plant and eight to madness. The rest are related to poisoning, intoxication, and causing of death.
Aphrodisiac: The reputation of mandrake as an aphrodisiac rst appeared in biblical times (Genesis 30: 4-16). It was noted by Theophrastus in the 3 rd c. BCE [61,IX,8. 8] and was widely expanded and iconographically depicted and transmitted in the medieval period, with reference mainly to the fruits [24]. Benítez et al. [13] found that this use was popularized in the last century and remained in the tradition with limited citations throughout history. A possible explanation has already been pointed out: "the fruit of the mandragora became a symbol of love" [248:90], but not for actual use. Hanuš et al. [244] found no fewer than 136 chemical compounds in the mandrake fruit, but none of them is known to have an effect on human sexual behaviour. They conclude: "The main compounds found in the ripe fruit and undetected in the unripe fruit are likely to be responsible for the fruit's special taste and odour and its so-called aphrodisiac qualities." Therefore, although mandrake's aphrodisiac properties have never been pharmacologically proven, still today the fruit is eagerly sought for this purpose throughout its distribution range (especially in the south-east Mediterranean and the Balkans) (Benítez et al. [13]). Nevertheless, the profound profound of the Bible as well as local traditions are so deep rooted in many cultures that no less than 17 names in 10 languages are related to love (especially "love apple or berry" (3) and "love plant or herb" (5), or other love-related attributes (e.g. ["the fruit that gets the lovers close"] and ["the dependent bride"] in Arabic). The relatively low number of names relating the mandrake to love and as an aphrodisiac (5.7% of total; see Figure 1) re ects its rather rare use for this purpose down the generations (see [13], for a review).
Names related to the plant's mythology Black magic -sorcery, witchcraft, and magic, bad luck, and evil eye: Mandrake is probably the most celebrated of all "magical" plants in history and has thus given rise to a mammoth literature [12:161; 249:110; 250:94]. The magical powers ascribed to the mandrake, both benign and evil qualities, made it an object of awesome veneration. In the folk imagination, the mandrake was conceived as a being with obvious ties to underworld forces [100:105; 101:153]. In many cultures, the mandrake has a notorious reputation as a plant used in black magic and witchcraft [251:532]. In the Middle Ages, the mandrake was an indispensable element in the witch's cauldron [44:112; 109:71]. Because the root has an uncanny resemblance to human limbs, the mandrake was considered half demon [252:3], with great magical properties [253:71].
The mandrake contains narcotic and hallucinogenic compounds which have the ability to heal, to injure, to cause madness, to induce a shamanistic trance, or to kill [117; 171; 179; 254] In our analysis we recognize three subcategories related to this wide issue. Thirteen names in eight languages were found related to black magic and witches and witchcraft such as ["sorcerer's root"] in English and Russian and ["magic root"] in Estonian, Dutch, and German. Four names are related to witches: (["witches' herb"] in Dutch, English, and German, and ["witches' love root"] in Dutch. All these names related to witches are from European countries which are beyond the natural distribution of the mandrake. Evil supernatural elements -Satan, devil, genie, monster, and dragon. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) states: "The mandrake takes on and holds the in uence of the devil more than other herbs because of its similarity to a human" [259:33]. According to , the narcotic effect of the mandrake, which may also cause death, is the reason for the plant's association with the devil or an indwelling demon. In some places (such as England), it was still believed in the nineteenth century that the devil/Satan was perpetually looking on [180:60].
Many authors discuss the relation between the mandrake and the devil/Satan [29, II:346; 33; 260]. The mandrake legend was at its height during the fteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, a period during which belief in the devil acquired an intensity and an immensity of scope unknown before or since [122:268].
Twenty-eight names in 9 languages were connected to various supernatural agents due to the narcotic and hallucinogenic effects. Nine names include the devil (e.g. probably as a result of its narcotic effect that was considered to be caused by supernatural evil, in addition to the "demonic" human-like root shape.
White magic -good luck, talisman, and dolls: The mandrake root was carved into human-like puppets or dolls which were highly regarded as omnipotent talismans  [142:329; 201:111]. Two other German names, ["house father"] and ["heinzelmannchen"] refer toa legendary creature resembling a tiny old man who lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure; a gnome, while ["house's father"] in German denotes the mandrake as a keeper of good luck. The French name ["singing plant"] even while not explicitly mentioning a doll, is also related to the miraculous positive powers of the mandrake. In France (nineteenth c.), the mandrake was thought to have the ability to sing, and its song had the magical potential to endow the alchemist with powers of transformation…just like the philosopher's stone [264:240-241].
Pulling-out ceremonies and supernatural phenomena: The andromorphic shape of the mandrake's root caused it to be considered a semi-demon; thus, it screams while being pulled out and may cause death. This is the reason why a dog was used and why there was the need to close the ears [252:3]. The pulling out of the mandrake, which is related to its supernatural evil powers, is threatened by revenge from these powerful agents [180; 201:124-125; 212:17-18; 252:153]. This is the very reason why special ceremonies needed to be performed before and during the digging out of the mandrake to pacify these elements. Otherwise, they might immediately kill the herb collectors ("rhizotomies") if they did not take the proper precautions to avoid the expected dangers as stated above. The main elements of the ceremony are special incantations, prayers, and dances, and the use of a dog.
The rst to mention the use of a dog while pulling mandrake is Josephus Flavius ( rst c. CE [265]), provided that the plant name he mentions, "ba'aras," really is the mandrake, as it is agreed to be by most authorities (e. g. It is commonly stated in the literature that when being pulled out, the mandrake will let out a scream and the dog will die (cf. in northwest Iran there is a belief even today that the mandrake "groans" [268:54-65]. In Armenia, in the eighteenth century, it is mentioned that the mandrake "moans with a human voice" [266:99]. In the Yezidi folk tradition, the mandrake supposedly shouts so shrilly that one who digs it up dies at once [101:153]. We found seven names related to the scream (Tables E1, 1), all of which are from Europe, particularly Poland, where mandrake was widely used in witchcraft to prepare ying ointment, mainly during the sixteenth-seventeenth c. [182:180]. Mandrake does not grow in Poland, and both the term and the folklore attached to M. o cinarum have been applied to local herbs, usually Atropa belladonna L., deadly nightshade [12:passim; 182:194-195]. Anyhow, it is not at all clear why mandrake was so tightly related to the element of the scream in Poland. The rst records about the screaming mandrake appear simultaneously in Europe and the Middle East in the twelfth c. The prevalence of this belief in northwest Iran and Armenia nowadays may serve as indirect evidence for its origin in this part of the world. Rahner [199:214] assumes that the scream was imported from Arabic or eastern sources without giving any references.
Mandrake may shine and produce lights: the rst to mention the burning mandrake was again Josephus Flavius [265, VIII:6.3] provided that we accept the general agreement that his plant named "ba'aras" is the mandrake (see [ Thief, gallows, semen, and the mandrake: The belief that the mandrake grew under the gallows from the semen of hanged victims [142; 195:59-60] was rst recorded in 1532 by the physician and botanist Otto Brunfels (1488-1534) and later became widespread in European medical literature during the seventeenth century [142; 201:121-122]. However, the gallows mandrake tradition was strongest in German lands [195:60]. Talley [74:166-168] relates the legend that mandrakes come from the urine or semen of a thief hanged on the gallows to sacri cial rites and myths of pre-Christian Germanic people. He nds parallels between Odin's human sacri ce (in Nordic mythology) and the growth of the mandrake from urine or semen under the gallows, while Randolph Another aspect of the mandrake-gallows connection is "the hand of glory." The dried hand of a hanged man was believed to have magical properties and was used by thieves and burglars [273:99-100]. The notorious hand of glory is known in French as the main de gloire, which is thought to be a corruption of the French for mandrake: mandragore. There is an obvious shared association with the gallows corpse [195:62]. The myth arose among thieves and illiterate persons during the Middle Ages in France through a misunderstanding of words, mandragore, the French term for the mandragora or mandrake, being mistaken for main de gloire. The term mandegloire is given as a popular synonym for mandragore [274:59].

Names related to religion and historical characteristics
Adam's creation: Hildegard Von Bingen (twelfth c.) posits that the mandrake came forth from the same seed from which Adam was created, and to some extent its shape resembles that of man [259:1151A-1152A].
According to a Persian myth, man was created from a plant that resembled a human shape; this plant is a ribas (Rheum spp., rhubarb). The tradition says that Gayōmart, the rst man, was created by Ahuramazda. When he died, there came a seed from his loins ... (it) was kept inside the soil. After forty years, it changed into ribas (or a mandrake) [267:12]). Eliade [275] has already pointed out the striking similarity between the myth of Gayōmart and the traditions about mandrake; the union of anthropomorphic plant and shining power which fertilizes the earth. Gayōmart's seed creates a hybrid creature, partway between a human being, an animal, and a plant [276:186]. Zarcone [41:120] concludes: "mandrake follows in the tradition of all the myths that mention the birth of humans from the earth at the beginning of time." Despite these ancient Iranian myths concerning the creation of the rst man and mandrake, which may have migrated very late to the West, there is no name in this language related to this issue. The Russian ["Adam's head"] and the Turkish ["Adam's plant"] may hint at a relic of the ancient Iranian myth. One might consider that the German legend has a negative connotation (spawn of evil), and all the eastern myths (as well as Hildegard von Bingen's text [259]) have a positive one (creation of peoples).
King Solomon: The name ["King Solomon tree"] in Arabic and in Armenian is a relic of an old legend that a piece of a mandrake was in the ring of King Solomon, who used it against demons. This story follows an old tradition handed down under the name of Hermes Trismegistos ( rst-third c.) via Ibn al-Bayṭ ār [277,III:14] (13 th c.). According to Amasiaci [198:96], in fteenth-century Armenia, mandrake was called ["the tree of Solomon"]; it was thought to bring its owner happiness and power over people. Prometheus: Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd century BCE [280: 3,843-868ff]) reports: "Prometheus was condemned to his punishment for theft…the ower sprang from his gore as it dripped to the ground." According to , "since gore does not drip from the bodies of hang-thieves, a change had to be made here…in adapting the story to the mandrake, and so the plant is said to spring from the thief's urine" (see also [ Paradise, mandrake, and the elephant: the mandrake's rare name ["elephant ear"] [202:249] is related to a medieval legend of the elephant and the mandrake. A Latin bestiary of the eighth or ninth century tells the tale of an elephant great in intellect but feeble in the desire to reproduce. The cure was for him and his mate to travel eastward until, near paradise, they found the mandrake plant [282:248]. A male and female elephant (Adam and Eve) require the fruit of the mandrake (here, the Tree of Knowledge) to arouse their sexual desire [283:153]. The German name ["little child's root"] indicates that this is the plant that the elephants ate in paradise [31:41].
Non-classi ed names Some Greek names are included under this section: Euphemistic names. Euphemism has been in use since Greek antiquity as a kind of innocuous expression to describe or name something that is considered dangerous or unpleasant. By using bland, inoffensive terms, the speaker appears to treat the subject in a positive rather than pejorative way and avoids invoking its malign characteristics. In a way, euphemisms are used to politely refer to negative life issues such as disability, disaster, death. A very well-known euphemistic name is that of the Black Sea, which the Greeks called "Euxeinos Pontos" (= sea that welcomes foreigners) instead of the more suitable "Axenos" (unwelcoming to foreigners).
Non-classi ed names constitute the fth widest category (27 names; Figure 2), indicating that a lot of names are of unknown origin despite all the abovementioned connections between names and the plant's properties, shape, or features. Languages such as Basque, Berber, Chinese, and Slovak all have names for the plant in this category, but ten more also have names in this group (Arabic, Catalan, Greek, Italian, Latin, Polish, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish, and Turkmenian).
Our hypothesis 1 suggests that due to the longer history and larger distribution area around the Mediterranean (especially in the Middle and Near East), it is expected to nd migration of names (and myths and customs re ected in these names) from east to the west (Middle East to Europe) and from the south to the north (southern Europe to western and central and northern Europe) than migrations in the opposite directions.
Our data show that three Farsi mandrake names are related to the role of a dog in the pulling-out ceremony: sag-kuš (lit. ["dog slayer"], sag-šikan [lit. "dog breaker"], sag-kan [lit. "dog-dug"]). Two more names related to this issue occur in Arabic and Dagestani. The other mandrake names related to a dog (in ve languages) are ["the dog apple"]. We asume that the mention of a dog in relation to the mandrake in western languages is a kind of echo of its role in the pulling-out ceremony in the Middle East (and Iran), since the use of a dog has deep roots in this region (see above).
As expected, we were unable to pinpoint any name's migration from northern Europe to the south or from Europe to the Middle East.
It was expected (hypothesis 2) that we would nd more names (and in more categories) in countries in which the mandrake is native (especially around the Mediterranean) and has a longer history than in other parts of Europe in which mandrake (and its legends) arrived later. The order of the languages according to number of mandrake names (Table 8 Since mandrake has a long history as an aphrodisiac and as an omnipotent medicinal plant down the generations (see Benítez et al, 2021 [13]), it was expected (hypothesis 3) to nd relatively many names related to these categories (see hypothesis 3). In fact, we found (Table 3) relatively few names which express hallucinogenic or narcotic aspects (21 names) or are related to "love issues" (17 names), and even fewer related to its general medicinal properties (11 names). Thus, just 17% of total names are related to this category (Fig 2), and our third hypothesis must be rejected.
It was expected (hypothesis 4) that we would nd more names related to witchcraft and black magic in Europe than in the Muslim world. Thompson [252:131] has already mentioned that "In Germany in medieval times belief in the powers of the mandrake became a universal cult, and through the country the plant was regarded with veneration for its magical properties." Names related to this category comprise 16% of the totals (Table 8, Fig. 2). Of the 49 names (Table  4), except for six in Arabic, six in Turkish, and one in Hebrew, the rest occur in European languages. Thus, this hypothesis was con rmed.

Conclusions
Mandrake has been named in diverse ways since antiquity, summing up to 296 vernacular names in 42 languages. The distribution of mandrake's vernacular names according to the designated categories re ects its widespread historical reputation as related to the Doctrine of Signatures, beliefs in its supernatural powers, mystic beliefs, and to a lesser extent its uses in magic and medicine.
Van Arsdall et al. [142] have already noted that different myths related to the mandrake have different origins and ages. Some are ancient while others are later, according to the written evidence. This observation could be exampli ed in several cases as inferred from spatiotemporal analysis of the mandrake names. The pulling-out ceremonies for the mandrake (especially with the use of a dog) originated in the Middle East. In this category we have 25 names, 28% of them from the Near East. The scream heard during the pulling out is a later phenomenon [142:317] and is re ected in four European languages and in Turkish.
The relation of the mandrake's names to magic and witchcraft appears only in European countries in which the mandrake is non-native (Table 4, D1). This is also indirect evidence for a later expansion of these beliefs after the introduction (or import of the roots) of the mandrake to these countries. Names which are related to demonic agents (as a result of the similarity to the human shape) appear mainly in Arabic but also in 7 European languages, most of them from countries in which the mandrake is not indigenous. This nding may provide indirect support for Middle-Eastern origin of this aspect. Thus it seems that witchcraft and magical traditions originated mainly in central Europe (see above), while the fear of the plant due to its shape may have an eastern origin.
The origin of the mandrake under the gallows has late, western roots. All the names related to gallows are from Europe (14), especially from Germany (7) and the Netherlands (4) and for sure re ect a late-medieval European origin.    Надлишка "Nad" means over, above, and "liška" means leaf; probably the word means something stronger or more important than leaf (which is close to the root in the mandrake) or could also emphasize the fruit ("above the leaf")     Figure 1 Languages which comprise more than ten vernacular names for mandrake; number of names and percentages. Distribution of names in main categories