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Internationalism, learned borrowing from Latinacinus(“grape, grape-stone”); the histopathologic sense comes figuratively from the fancied resemblance (on microscopy) of acinic cells (acinar cells) to bunches of drupelets, berries, or grapes.
(anatomy) one of the granular masses which constitute a racemose or compound gland, as the pancreas; also, one of the saccular recesses in the lobules of a racemose gland.
Usually compared to Ancient Greekὄνος(ónos) (which cannot be its direct ancestor), and, just like other IE words for "ass", must be traced back to an unknown substrate source in Asia Minor (compare Hieroglyphic Luwian(tarkasna), Sumerian𒀲(anše)). The lack of rhotacism of the single intervocalic-s- after a short vowel would point to a recent borrowing.[1]
^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “asinus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 57
Further reading
“asinus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“asinus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"asinus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
asinus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.