Etymologically
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anas

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈa.nas][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.nas][1]

Forms

anas f (genitive anitis or anatis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *anati-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₂-ti- (“duck”).[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit आति (ātí, “a waterbird”), Ancient Greek νῆσσα (nêssa, “duck”), Lithuanian ántis, Russian утка (útka), Old English æned and German Ente.[2][3][4] The stem ⟨anit-⟩ shows the usual weakening of an unstressed vowel, and ⟨anat-⟩ either keeps the old vowel or assimilated it to the first syllable.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who has the plural anitēs.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a duck, and Cicero speaks of duck eggs.[3][6] The genitive plural is anatum in Cicero and Pliny the Elder and rarely anatium in Varro.[7]

In Medieval Latin it was still the word for a duck or drake, glossed by Old English ened.[8] Its descendants include Spanish ánade and Catalan ànec.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has the plural anitēs.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of duck eggs.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A duck.[3]
  • English duck

Usage notes

It is distinct from anās, anātis, “the disease of old women”, from anus “old woman”, and also from Anas, the river Guadiana.[3][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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