cornix

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔr.niːks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔr.niks]^[1]

Forms

cornīx f (genitive cornīcis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kornīk- (“crow”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱor-n- (“crow, raven”), probably imitative of the bird's harsh call.^[2][3][1] Cognate with Umbrian curnaco (“crow”) and Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, “crow”), and related to corvus “raven”.^[2][3][4] The suffix -īx marks feminine individuals.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus, where a woodpecker and a crow on the left give good advice.^[2][5][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was the crow or a related bird, known for its cunning, so that “to pierce the eyes of crows” meant to outwit the wariest, as in Cicero.^[3][6] Its call was thought to forecast rain, as in Lucretius and Virgil, and augurs drew omens from it.^[3] It was proverbial for long life, and as an insult it was used of an old woman.^[3] Isidore says the augurs believed it showed human cares by signs.^[7]

In medieval Britain it was a crow, rook or raven, and a dead rook was hung up as a scarecrow.^[8] It survives in Italian cornice.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has a crow on the left give a good omen.^[3][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius says crows call for rain.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero quotes the proverb about piercing crows' eyes.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A crow.^[3]
2. (insult) An old woman.^[3]

Word family

• cornīcor
• cornīcula
• corniculus

Related words

• corvus
• crōciō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ 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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
8. ^ 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