lynx

Pronunciation

• IPA: /lɪŋks/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lynx, borrowed from Latin lynx,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek λύγξ (lúnx, “lynx”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Greek word has relatives in Germanic, such as Old English lox and German Luchs, and in Baltic, Slavic and Armenian.^[4][5] It is often connected with the Proto-Indo-European root *leuk- “light”, from the animal's gleaming eyes,^[2][4][5] but Beekes suggests it is a loan from a non-Indo-European language.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The wildcat with tufted ears, noted for its keen sight (1340).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The earliest English quotations already allude to the lynx's proverbial keenness of sight, as in Chaucer's Boethius (c. 1380), where it can see through walls.^[7][4] Hence lynx-eyed, “sharp-sighted” (1828), and the learned adjective lyncean (1630s).^[7][4] The name was also given to the animal's fur (1839) and to a northern constellation added in 1687 by Johannes Hevelius.^[7][4]

Timeline

• 1340 – the animal, noted for keen sight.^[7][3]
• 1630s – lyncean.^[4]
• 1687 – the constellation Lynx.^[4]
• 1828 – lynx-eyed.^[7]
• 1839 – lynx fur.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of several wildcats of the genus Lynx, of northern North America and Eurasia, with long legs, thick soft fur, a short black-tipped tail and tufted ears.
2. (Lynx) A faint northern constellation.

Word family

• lynx-eyed

Related words

• bobcat
• caracal
• ocelot

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press