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columbinus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word columbinus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC Cato More words from the 3rd century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin columba
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin columba
Latin columbīnus
Derivations
From the same root
Latin columbus ← columba

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔ.ɫʊmˈbiː.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ko.lumˈbiː.nus][1]

Forms

columbīnus (feminine columbīna, neuter columbīnum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin columba (“dove, pigeon”) + -īnus.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cato,[3][4] who recommends spreading pigeon dung.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means “of pigeons or doves”: Varro writes of fattening young pigeons, Horace of a pigeon's egg, Pliny the Elder of pigeon dung,[2][6] and Martial uses the masculine plural as a noun for young pigeons.[6] In Pliny it also names dove-coloured varieties of chickpea, vine and marl.[2][6]

In Late Latin the feminine columbina was a name of verbena, the source, through Medieval Latin and French, of English columbine.[7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato mentions pigeon dung.[2][5][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro writes of young pigeons.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of dove-coloured chickpeas, vines and marl.[2][4]
  • c. 1300 – English borrows columbine as a flower name, through French or Medieval Latin.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of pigeons or doves; pigeon-, dove-.[2][6]
  2. Dove-coloured, of varieties of plants and earth.[2][6]

Noun

  1. (masculine plural) Young pigeons.[6]

Word family

  • columbinaceus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Columbinus.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/columbinus. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·