Etymologically
Log in

gallinaceus

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word gallinaceus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin gallus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin gallina
Latin gallinaceus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɡal.liːˈnaː.ke.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ɡal.liˈnaː.t͡ʃe.us][1]

Forms

gallīnāceus (feminine gallīnācea, neuter gallīnāceum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Manuscripts often have gallīnācius.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin gallīna (“hen”) + -āceus.[2][3][1] gallīna is the feminine of gallus (“cock”).[4][1] De Vaan thinks the best explanation of gallus is the link with a root Proto-Indo-European *glH- (“to call”), the cock as “the caller”, though there are formal difficulties; a naming after the Gauls has nothing to support it.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has gallus gallīnāceus, a farmyard cock, in the Aulularia.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the adjective of farmyard poultry, as the gallus gallīnāceus of Lucilius and Cicero.[6] Petronius' lac gallīnāceum, “hen's milk”, stands for something impossible to get, and Pliny the Elder uses the masculine as a noun for a cockerel.[2] It also names plants: Plautus' cunīla gallīnācea, perhaps wild marjoram, and Pliny's pedes gallīnāceī, a kind of fumitory.[2] Manuscripts often spell it ⟨gallinacius⟩.[2][3] English gallinaceous comes from it and dates from 1783.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a farmyard cock and a plant.[2][6][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of cocks.[6][7]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius, of “hen's milk”.[2][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of a cockerel.[2][7]
  • 1783 – English gallinaceous.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the domestic fowl or poultry.[2][6][1]
  2. lac gallīnāceum: something impossible to get.[2]
  3. cunīla gallīnācea: a plant, perhaps wild marjoram;[2] pedes gallīnāceī: a kind of fumitory.[2]

Noun

  1. A cockerel.[2]

References

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

“Gallinaceus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/gallinaceus. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·