alcedo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [aɫˈkeː.doː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [al̠ʲˈt͡ʃɛː.do]^[1]

Forms

alcēdō f (genitive alcēdinis); third declension^[1] Also spelled halcēdō; later replaced by alcyōn.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn, “kingfisher”), reshaped with the suffix of words like terēdō and torpēdō.^[3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Plautus' Poenulus, and Varro and Festus also use it.^[5][6] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was the halcyon, kingfisher.^[3][6] Lewis & Short note that the spellings with ⟨h⟩ arose from a fanciful connection with the sea.^[2]

British Medieval Latin glossaries took it as a gull, glossed Old English mǣw, and perhaps a coal-tit.^[7] Spanish alcedón is a learned borrowing.^[1] Its derivative alcēdōnia was the calm, stormless time in winter.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[6][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The halcyon, kingfisher.^[3][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) A gull.^[7]

Word family

• alcedonia

Related words

• alcyōn
• Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn