delphinus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [dɛɫˈpʰiː.nʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [delˈfiː.nus]^[1]

Forms

delphīnus m (genitive delphīnī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís, “dolphin”), also ⟨δελφίν⟩.^[2][1][3][4] Köbler compares Ancient Greek δελφύς (delphús, “womb”).^[5] The poets also use the Greek form ⟨delphīn⟩.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Accius, of dolphins.^[2] Köbler dates Accius 170–c. 90 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a dolphin, as in Accius, Cicero and Horace's dolphin painted in the woods.^[2][7] In Columella it was the constellation Dolphin, and in Pliny the Elder and Juvenal an ornament shaped like a dolphin.^[2][7]

Medieval Latin used delphīnus as the surname of the counts of Albon, then for a dignity in the Dauphiné, and after 1349 for the eldest son of the kings of France.^[8][4] It survives in Italian delfino and French dauphin, and Medieval Latin dolfīnus and Old French daulphin gave English dolphin in the mid-14th century, and French gave English dauphin.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of dolphins.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[2][5]
• 1349 – delphīnus becomes the title of the French heir.^[8][4]
• mid-14th century – English dolphin is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dolphin; the constellation Dolphin.^[2][7]
2. A dolphin-shaped ornament.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) The dauphin.^[8]

Word family

• delphīna
• delphīnālis
• delphīnātus

Related words

• English dolphin
• English dauphin

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill