tigris Latin · revision 32975

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=grc τίγρις}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈtɪ.ɡrɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈtiː.ɡris]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tigris''' ''m'' (genitive tigris or tigridis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The genitive is ''tigris'' or ''tigridis''; the OLD gives it as feminine, sometimes masculine.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|τίγρις|tr=tígris|t=tiger]].^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary takes the Greek word to be probably of Indo-Iranian origin,^(Wiktionary) and Köbler compares the word for arrow in Avestan.^(Köbler 2010) Isidore of Seville says the tiger was named for its swift flight, since the Persians and Medes call an arrow by this word, and that the river Tigris was named after the animal for its speed.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Varro.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the tiger: Virgil has Armenian and Hyrcanian tigers.^(Lewis & Short 1879) By metonymy it is a tiger skin, in Valerius Flaccus and Statius.^(OLD 2012) It was also given as a name to other animals: Ovid has a hound called Tigris, and Juvenal mocks lazy dogs named Leopard, Tiger or Lion.^(OLD 2012) Isidore calls it a beast marked with varied spots, wonderful for its strength and speed, bred mostly in Hyrcania.^(Isidore) Church Latin keeps it as tiger,^(Stelten 1995) and Wiktionary notes the poetic sense tigress.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses the word.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of Armenian and Hyrcanian tigers.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a hound named Tigris.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 45–96 AD – Statius of a tiger skin.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains the name from a word for arrow.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|tiger]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) ''(poetic)'' a tigress.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A tiger [[m|en|skin]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A name given to other animals, especially dogs.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tigrifer]]

+ * [[tigrīnus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|tiger]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The river Tigris has the same name, ''Tigris'', genitive ''Tigris'' or ''Tigridis'' (masculine), in Varro, Horace, Mela and Pliny the Elder.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Etymonline derives the river's name from an Iranian source akin to words for arrow, probably from the swiftness of its current.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}