Etymologically
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halcyon

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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]

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