lynx

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈlyŋks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliŋks]^[1]

Forms

lynx m or f (genitive lyncis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek λύγξ (lúnx, “lynx”).^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Virgil (70–19 BC).^[4] Virgil has “the dappled lynxes of Bacchus”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the lynx.^[2] Bacchus' chariot was drawn by a team of lynxes, and Virgil has “the covering of a spotted lynx”.^[5][2] It is usually feminine, but masculine in Horace.^[2][6] Pliny says it was thought to see more sharply than other animals.^[6]

Pliny also names a fictitious tree lynx, invented to explain lyncūrium.^[2] Through Italian lonza it gave French once and English ounce, the snow leopard.^[1] English lynx itself was borrowed in the mid-14th century.^[7]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of Bacchus' lynxes.^[2][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it as a masculine.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes of its sharp sight.^[6][4]
• mid-14th century – English lynx is borrowed.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lynx.^[2][1]
2. A fictitious tree said to produce lyncurium.^[2]

Related words

• English lynx
• English ounce

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com