Etymologically
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lynx

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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]
  • 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