Etymologically
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avis

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Pronunciation

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

Forms

avis f (genitive avis); third declension[1] The ablative singular is avī or ave, the former usual in the language of religion.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *awi- (“bird”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwis (“bird”), an i-stem; de Vaan argues against the view, current since Schindler, that it was a root noun, and connects it with ōvum “egg” as a vr̥ddhi derivative.[4][1][5] Cognate with Umbrian avif, with Sanskrit वि (ví-, “bird”) and Avestan vaii- (“bird”), Ancient Greek αἰετός (aietós, “eagle”) from *h₂ewi-eto-, Armenian հաւ (haw, “bird”) and the Brittonic word for “duck”, Middle Welsh hwyat.[4][1][2] The compounds auspex “bird-watcher, augur” and auceps “bird-catcher” contain it.[4] Festus derived it from adventus, and Isidore of Seville explained that birds have no fixed roads but run through trackless places (avia).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius onwards,[4] who has Anchises observe a bird in the sacred precinct, and Ennius has Remus watching alone for a favourable bird.[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the bird as a creature, caught or served at table, it meant poultry (aves cohortales), and avis alba or avis rara, a white or rare bird, was a marvel.[2][6] Many birds were named by an epithet: avis Afra the guinea fowl, avis Iunonis the peacock, avis Romana the eagle.[2]

In augury it was the bird observed as an omen and hence the omen itself, avi sinistra, “with a bad omen”, or secundis avibus, “with good omens”.[2][6] Poets applied it to the constellations of the Swan, the Crow and the Eagle, and Varro once calls bees aves.[2][3] Medieval texts use it especially of birds of prey and game birds, and of the royal birds reserved for the king;[7] Köbler notes avis regia for the falcon.[8] It survives as Spanish and Portuguese ave.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of a bird observed for an omen.[2][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius has Remus watching for the favourable bird.[2][8]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a wild bird and of a bad omen.[2][8]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro derives auceps from catching birds.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses avis alba of a rarity.[2][8]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid names constellations avis.[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bird, and in the plural poultry, while avis alba is a marvel.[2][3]
  2. With an epithet, a particular bird, as in avis Iunonis, the peacock, and avis Romana, the eagle.[2]
  3. (augury) A bird observed for omens; an omen, an augury.[2][6]
  4. (astronomy) The constellation of the Swan, the Crow or the Eagle.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A bird of prey; a game bird; a royal bird.[7][8]

Word family

  • auca
  • aucella
  • aucellus
  • auceps
  • aviārium
  • aviārius
  • avicella
  • avicula
  • aviculārius
  • avipēs
  • passer
  • ōvum
  • English auspice
  • English aviary
  • English aviation

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes avis, any bird, from āles, a larger bird and the augurs' term for birds observed in flight, and volucris, anything that flies, insects included.[9]

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 q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper