Etymologically
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gallus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɡal.lʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɡal.lus][1]

Forms

gallus m (genitive gallī); second declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][3] The best explanation takes it as “the caller”, from a root *gal- “to call”, with Welsh galw (“to call”), Old Church Slavonic гласъ (glasŭ, “voice”) and Old Norse kalla (“to call”); the root may be onomatopoeic.[2][1] Walde and Hofmann preferred Ancient Greek καλαΐς (kalaḯs, “cock”), which has a different consonant.[2][3] De Vaan sees no sign that the bird was named as “the Gaulish one”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was the farmyard cock, in full gallus gallīnāceus, as Varro's advice on keeping poultry, and its crowing marked the night watches and served for omens, as Cicero discusses.[3][5] Seneca's proverb said the cock rules on his own dunghill.[6]

It survives in Italian gallo, Spanish gallo and Old French jal.[1] The feminine gallīna “hen” survives too, and gallicinium “cockcrow” named the last watch of the night.[1][6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro writes on keeping poultry.[5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero discusses the crowing of cocks as an omen.[5][6][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cock, rooster.[3]

Word family

  • gallicinium
  • gallīna
  • gallulus
  • gallicus
  • Gallus

Usage notes

Gallus with a capital letter is a Gaul, and also a eunuch priest of Cybele, named, ancient writers said, from the Phrygian river Gallus, whose water made men mad.[3][5] Isidore derived the bird's name from castration, saying that it alone among birds was gelded.[3][5][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c 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).