canicula Latin · revision 36378

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la canis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kaˈniː.kʊ.ɫa]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [kaˈniː.ku.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''canīcula''' ''f'' (genitive canīculae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|canis|-cula|t1=dog]], a diminutive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) Priscian lists it among diminutives that do not keep the gender of their base.^(TLL) De Vaan traces the base to [[ine-pro|*ḱuōn|t=dog]].^(de Vaan 2008) The sense dogfish is probably a calque of [[grc|σκύλιον|tr=skúlion]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first, of a woman who bites: ''apage istanc canīculam!'', “away with that bitch!”^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lewis and Short give the plain sense of a small dog or bitch from Pliny the Elder,^(Lewis & Short 1879) but the earliest uses are figurative, of a snappish woman, in Plautus and later in Gellius.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ From Varro on it named a dogfish or shark and the Dog Star, Sirius, sometimes the whole constellation Canis Major;^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) Pliny the Elder applies it to Procyon, the lesser dog.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Persius calls the lowest throw at dice the ruinous ''canīcula''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Through French ''chenille'', “caterpillar”, literally “little dog”, it is the source of English [[m|en|chenille]] (1738).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a biting woman.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it for the dogfish and for the Dog Star.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for a small dog and for Procyon.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 34–62 AD – Persius uses it for the lowest throw at dice.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a quarrelsome woman.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1738 – English [[m|en|chenille]] comes from it through French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small [[m|en|dog]] or [[m|en|bitch]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A bitch, a snappish or quarrelsome woman.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A [[m|en|dogfish]] or [[m|en|shark]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # The Dog Star, [[m|en|Sirius]]; sometimes the constellation [[m|en|Canis Major]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # [[m|en|Procyon]], the lesser dog star.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The lowest throw at [[m|en|dice]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[canīculāris]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|chenille]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}