aquilinus

Forms

aquilīnus (feminine aquilīna, neuter aquilīnum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin aquila (“eagle”) + -īnus.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it in the Pseudolus, of cooks with claws like a kite's or an eagle's.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

It meant like an eagle's, or an eagle's.^[2] Apuleius describes eyes flashing in a gaze that is “quite aquiline”, so that the word implied sharp sight,^[3][5] and Tertullian speaks of the Babylonian king's eagle-like nails.^[3] The grammarian Priscian cites it as the adjective of aquila.^[3] Aquilinus was also a Roman personal name.^[3]

Medieval writers kept the sense “eagle-like”, also in allegory of John the Evangelist,^[6] and through association with aquilus it also meant dark or swarthy.^[6] At Oxford, Aula Aquilina was Eagle Hall.^[7] English aquiline, first of hooked noses, comes from it.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of eagles' claws in the Pseudolus.^[2][9]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius describes eyes as aquiline.^[3][9]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian mentions the Babylonian king's eagle-like nails.^[3][9]
• 1498 – An Oseney cartulary names the tenement Aula Aquilina (Eagle Hall) at Oxford.^[7]
• 1640s – Borrowed into English as aquiline, of hooked noses.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of an eagle, like an eagle's, aquiline.^[2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) Dark, swarthy.^[6]

Related words

• English aquiline

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
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. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de