Wpływ „doktryny sygnatur” Paracelsusa na nominację językową w botanice (na przykładzie nazw roślin zielarskich)
The Impact of the ‘Doctrine of Signatures’ by Paracelsus on the Linguistic Nomination in Botany (Based on the Names of Herbal Plants)

Summary/Abstract: The paper refers to the main principles of the doctrine of signatures, formulated by Paracelsus in the 16th century, and its impact on the linguistic nomination in botany. The doctrine maintains that the plants’ morphological features resemble human organs and disease symptoms, thus suggesting a relationship between the plants’ appearance and the therapeutic effect attributed to them. The paper illustrates this theory based on examples of the herbal plants’ names. The analysis shows that the theory of signatures, despite having been criticized and rejected by scholars, was reflected not only in the Latin scientific nomenclature, but also in Polish and Russian common (national botanical) names and in folk denominations. Despite its irrationality and lack of scientific background, the doctrine did have some impact on the perception of the world of plants by language users, which translated into the naming convention. Some names created on the basis of associating plants’ features with their medicinal effects are not justified and lead to erroneous conclusions; however, some names are correct.

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