δελφίς

Forms

δελφῑ́ς (delphī́s) m (genitive δελφῖνος); third declension^[1] Later also nominative δελφίν.^[2] Aeolic (Lesbian) βελφίν.^[3][2]

Etymology

It is formed from the root of δελφύς (delphús, “womb”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelbʰ- (“womb”), with a rare suffix found also in ἀκτίς (aktís), γλωχίς (glōkhís) and ὠδίς (ōdís).^[4][1][3][5] The dolphin was thus named after its body, as the “animal with a womb”, a mammal among the fishes.^[4][1][5] Chantraine suggests it may also have been a nickname, the “piglet” of the sea, since δέλφαξ (délphax, “young pig”) is of the same root.^[6][7]

Aeolic βελφίν (belphín) shows that the initial sound was a labiovelar, which became ⟨δ⟩ before ⟨ε⟩ elsewhere.^[6][3][2] It is related to ἀδελφός (adelphós, “brother”), “from the same womb”.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

From Homer on it means the dolphin, in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.^[2][8][9]

Semantic evolution

The dolphin was used as an ornament, and Attic comedy used the name for a heavy dolphin-shaped weight of lead hung from a ship's yard-arm and dropped on enemy ships.^[2][8][6] Astronomers from Democritus on named a constellation after it, and later technical writers used it for stops in a machine.^[2] The dolphin was associated with Apollo as Delphinios, whose temple at Athens was the Delphinion.^[3]

Hellenistic Greek used a new nominative δελφίν, and its diminutive gave Modern Greek δελφίνι (delfíni).^[10][7] Latin borrowed the word as Latin delphinus, the source of English dolphin through Old French.^[11][12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the dolphin.^[2][9]
• 5th century BC – Democritus uses it for the constellation Dolphin.^[2][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for the dolphin-shaped lead weights of warships.^[2][8][5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle describes the dolphin in his zoological works.^[2][5]
• 4th century AD – Oribasius uses it for stops in a machine.^[2][5]
• Middle Ages – The diminutive *δελφίνιον becomes Modern Greek δελφίνι.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dolphin.^[2][8]
2. A heavy dolphin-shaped mass of lead hung from a ship's yard-arm and dropped on enemy ships.^[2][8]
3. A fish, the same as the κερκέτης (kerkétēs).^[2]
4. A stop in a machine.^[2]
5. The constellation Dolphin.^[2]

Word family

• δελφίνιον (delphínion)
• δελφινίς (delphinís)
• δελφινίσκος (delphinískos)
• δελφινάριον (delphinárion)
• δελφινίζω (delphinízō)

Related words

• δελφύς (delphús)
• ἀδελφός (adelphós)
• δέλφαξ (délphax)
• Latin delphinus
• English dolphin

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c d Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
7. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
8. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com