aquila

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈa.kʷɪ.ɫa]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.kʷi.la]^[1]

Forms

aquila f (genitive aquilae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably from aquilus “dark-coloured”, so that the eagle was named “the dark bird”.^[2][3][1] De Vaan rejects Cohen's derivation from a compound of ⟨*aku-⟩ “swift” and ⟨*(a)wi-⟩ “bird”, modelled on accipiter “hawk”, since a compound of that type would be very rare.^[2][1] Wiktionary adds that it replaced the inherited word for the eagle, Proto-Indo-European *h₃érō (“eagle”), through taboo avoidance.^[1] Isidore derived it from the sharpness (⟨acūmen⟩) of its eyes.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius, of the bird.^[3] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the eagle, with adjectives for particular kinds, aquila barbāta the lammergeyer and aquila marīna the sea eagle in Pliny the Elder, and the proverb aquilae senectūs “an eagle's old age”, a hearty old age, in Terence.^[3] In Cicero it was the eagle carried as the standard of a legion, and in Juvenal by metonymy a legion or the post of its standard-bearer.^[3][6] Varro used it of the constellation, Tacitus of a gable or pediment, and Pliny the Elder of a fish, perhaps the eagle ray.^[3] In poetry it was the bird that carries Jupiter's thunderbolt.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant an eagle.^[7] British Medieval Latin also used it for a lectern in the form of an eagle, the imperial standard, and the base coin called an “eagle”.^[8] It is continued in all the Romance languages but Vegliote, as Sardinian ábbila and Romanian aceră, and through Old Provençal aigla and Old French egle it gave English eagle in the mid-14th century.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the eagle.^[3][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence has the proverb aquilae senectūs.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a legion's standard.^[3][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the constellation.^[3][5]
• mid-14th century – English eagle is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. An eagle.^[3]
2. (military) The eagle standard of a legion; a legion; the post of standard-bearer.^[3]
3. The constellation Aquila.^[3]
4. (architecture) A gable, pediment.^[3]
5. A fish, perhaps the eagle ray.^[3]
6. (Medieval Latin) An eagle-shaped lectern.^[8]

Word family

• aquilifer
• aquilīnus

Related words

• aquilus
• aquilō
• English eagle
• English aquiline

Usage notes

Aquila is also a Roman cognomen, as of Lucius Pontius Aquila in Cicero.^[3][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press