martin English · revision 3687

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1450|origins=la Martīnus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈmɑː.tɪn/, US /ˈmɑːr.tᵊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|frm|martin]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from the man's name Martin,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|Martīnus]], a derivative of [[m|la|Mars]], the Roman god of war.^(Etymonline) Seventeenth-century writers said the bird was named after Saint Martin of Tours, whose feast, [[Martinmas]], on 11 November, falls about the time the birds leave for the winter;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the OED thinks the naming may have been arbitrary.^(Etymonline) The New Oxford takes it as a shortening of the obsolete martinet, from French, a diminutive of the same name.^(NODE 1998)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bird of the swallow family: about 1450, in the Scottish form martoune,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989) and as martin in 1589.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates martin to the 1580s, with a diminutive maretinet from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Martin replaced the earlier martnet (1440) and martynet (1513), names probably for the European martin or the [[swift]].^(Barnhart 1988) It is usually used with a qualifying word: the [[house martin]], which nests under the eaves of houses,^(Etymonline) and the American purple martin, so called by 1804.^(Etymonline) In 1591 it meant a dupe, perhaps a different word.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1440 – ''martnet''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1450 – Scottish ''martoune''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1589 – ''martin''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1591 – a dupe.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1804 – ''purple martin''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of various birds of the [[swallow]] family, such as the [[house martin]] or the purple martin.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[martinet]]

+ * [[bee martin]]

+ * [[house martin]]

+ * [[sand martin]]

+ * [[purple martin]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Martinmas]]

+ * [[martial]]

+ * [[Mars]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Martin is also a man's name.^(Etymonline) In Elizabethan London the parish of St Martin-le-Grand was known for dealers in imitation jewellery, hence ''Martin chain'' for a sham gold chain.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A ''martin'' was also a kind of monkey in Middle English.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}