buteo

Forms

būteō m (genitive būteōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably onomatopoeic, imitating the call of a hawk or buzzard, and so, de Vaan argues, not related by descent to būbō (“owl”).^[2][1] The OLD also calls it onomatopoeic and compares the owl's name,^[3] and the TLL derives it from the bird's cry.^[4] Köbler connects it with Proto-Indo-European *beu- (“to make a dull sound”).^[5]

The ancients linked it with the owl: Paul's epitome of Festus says the bird lives on what it snatches from the hawk and brings desolation to the places it enters, like the owl, from which it also takes its name.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Pliny the Elder (23/24–79 AD) on,^[2][5] who says the Romans call this hawk buteo and that a family took the name from it when one settled with a good omen on its leader's ship.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It names a kind of hawk, perhaps the buzzard.^[3][6] It was one of the birds that gave auguries by their flight, with the eagle and the sanqualis.^[4][6] As a cognomen it belonged to a branch of the Fabii, recorded in the consular lists and in Livy.^[3][4]

In medieval glossaries it is a bird of prey, the buzzard or kite, or perhaps the bittern, glossed with Old English bird names.^[7] Through Old French it is the source of French buse and busard, from which English took buzzard.^[1]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the bird and the origin of the cognomen.^[4][8][5]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius lists buteones among birds.^[4][8][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A kind of hawk, perhaps the buzzard.^[3][6][8]
2. (as a cognomen) Buteo, a surname in the Fabian family.^[3][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) A bird of prey, the buzzard or kite, or perhaps the bittern.^[7]

Related words

• English buzzard

Usage notes

A medieval buteo “young man” is a separate word of unclear origin, found in Abbo of Saint-Germain (890–897) with the gloss iuvenem.^[9][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften