halcyon

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈhaɫ.ky.oːn]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈal̠ʲ.t͡ʃi.on]^[1]

Forms

halcyōn f (genitive halcyonis); third declension^[1] More often spelled alcyōn, genitive -onis.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn, “kingfisher, halcyon”), also spelled ἁλκυών (halkuṓn), a word of unknown origin.^[2][1][4] Etymonline thinks the explanation from ⟨háls⟩ “sea” and ⟨kúōn⟩ “conceiving” is probably an ancient folk etymology for a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot cites Virgil's Georgics.^[3] Köbler dates Virgil 70–19 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a bird wrongly identified with the kingfisher, which the ancients believed nested on the sea, the halcyon; in Propertius the plural stands for seabirds in general.^[2] The adjective alcyonidēs (diēs) named the halcyon days, the calm days when it was thought to breed.^[2][4]

British Medieval Latin used it for a seabird, a gull.^[6] Middle English had alcioun in the late 14th century, and halcyon dayes (1540s) translates the Latin.^[4]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.^[3][5]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of seabirds.^[2][5]
• 1540s – English halcyon days is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The halcyon, a bird identified with the kingfisher, thought to nest on the sea.^[2]
2. (plural, poetic) Seabirds.^[2]

Related words

• alcēdō
• English halcyon

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ 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