zaeus

Forms

zaeus m (genitive zaeī); second declension; also spelled zēus.^[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ζαιός (zaiós), the name of a sea fish.^[1][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest author recorded is Pliny the Elder (23/24–79 AD), in the ninth book of his Natural History, where it names a kind of fish.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed a rare technical name: besides Pliny, the dictionaries cite only Columella's book on farming.^[2][4] The OLD identifies the fish as the dory, Zeus faber, while Conte offers this identification only as likely.^[1][3]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder names the fish in the Natural History.^[2][3][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella mentions it in his work on agriculture.^[2][4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sea fish, the dory or John Dory (Zeus faber).^[1][3]

Usage notes

The spelling zēus is also found.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Jeanneau, Gérard; Woitrain, Jean-Paul; Hassid, Jean-Claude (2017), Dictionnaire latin-français, online ed., prima-elementa.fr
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de