aquila Latin · revision 8138

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=Ennius|origins=la aquilus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈa.kʷɪ.ɫa]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.kʷi.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''aquila''' ''f'' (genitive aquilae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably from [[aquilus]] “dark-coloured”, so that the eagle was named “the dark bird”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan rejects Cohen's derivation from a compound of ⟨*aku-⟩ “swift” and ⟨*(a)wi-⟩ “bird”, modelled on [[accipiter]] “hawk”, since a compound of that type would be very rare.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary adds that it replaced the inherited word for the eagle, [[ine-pro|*h₃érō|t=eagle]], through taboo avoidance.^(Wiktionary) Isidore derived it from the sharpness (⟨acūmen⟩) of its eyes.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius, of the bird.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant the eagle, with adjectives for particular kinds, ''aquila barbāta'' the lammergeyer and ''aquila marīna'' the sea eagle in Pliny the Elder, and the proverb ''aquilae senectūs'' “an eagle's old age”, a hearty old age, in Terence.^(OLD 2012) In Cicero it was the eagle carried as the standard of a legion, and in Juvenal by metonymy a legion or the post of its standard-bearer.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Varro used it of the constellation, Tacitus of a gable or pediment, and Pliny the Elder of a fish, perhaps the eagle ray.^(OLD 2012) In poetry it was the bird that carries Jupiter's thunderbolt.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant an eagle.^(Stelten 1995) British Medieval Latin also used it for a lectern in the form of an eagle, the imperial standard, and the base coin called an “eagle”.^(DMLBS) It is continued in all the Romance languages but Vegliote, as Sardinian ''ábbila'' and Romanian ''aceră'', and through Old Provençal ''aigla'' and Old French ''egle'' it gave [[en|eagle]] in the mid-14th century.^(DÉRom)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the eagle.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence has the proverb ''aquilae senectūs''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a legion's standard.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the constellation.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * mid-14th century – English ''eagle'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|eagle]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(military)'' The eagle [[m|en|standard]] of a legion; a legion; the post of standard-bearer.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The constellation Aquila.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(architecture)'' A [[m|en|gable]], pediment.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A fish, perhaps the eagle ray.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An eagle-shaped [[m|en|lectern]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aquilifer]]

+ * [[aquilīnus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aquilus]]

+ * [[aquilō]]

+ * [[en|eagle]]

+ * [[en|aquiline]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Aquila'' is also a Roman cognomen, as of Lucius Pontius Aquila in Cicero.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}