Etymologically
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gallina

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɡalˈliː.na][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ɡalˈliː.na][1]

Forms

gallīna f (genitive gallīnae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from gallus “cock” with the suffix -īna, as rēgīna from rēx.[2][1][3] Isidore says that as ⟨leaena⟩ comes from ⟨leō⟩, so ⟨gallīna⟩ from ⟨gallus⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC, and Lewis and Short cite Plautus' Pseudolus.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a hen, as in Varro, Columella and Cicero, and gallīna Āfricāna or Numidica was the guinea fowl.[2][5][6] Plautus uses it as a term of endearment, and Juvenal's gallīnae fīlius albae “son of a white hen” meant a lucky man.[5][6] It was also the name of a gladiator in Horace.[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a hen.[7] British Medieval Latin called the Pleiades gallīna pucināria “hen and chickens”.[8] It survives in Italian, Spanish and Catalan gallina, Portuguese galinha, Romanian găină and Old French geline.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has the word.[4][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro describes the guinea fowl, gallīna Āfricāna.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of hens.[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A hen, gallīna Āfricāna, gallīna Numidica, a guinea fowl.[2]
  2. A term of endearment.[5]

Word family

  • gallīnāceus
  • gallīnārius
  • gallīnula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  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