lynx English · revision 916

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lɪŋks/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|lynx]], [[bor|la|lynx]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|λύγξ|tr=lúnx|t=lynx]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The Greek word has relatives in Germanic, such as Old English ''lox'' and German ''Luchs'', and in Baltic, Slavic and Armenian.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) It is often connected with the Proto-Indo-European root ''*leuk-'' “light”, from the animal's gleaming eyes,^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) but Beekes suggests it is a loan from a non-Indo-European language.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The wildcat with tufted ears, noted for its keen sight (1340).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The earliest English quotations already allude to the lynx's proverbial keenness of sight, as in Chaucer's ''Boethius'' (c. 1380), where it can see through walls.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Hence ''lynx-eyed'', “sharp-sighted” (1828), and the learned adjective ''lyncean'' (1630s).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The name was also given to the animal's fur (1839) and to a northern constellation added in 1687 by Johannes Hevelius.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1340 – the animal, noted for keen sight.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1630s – ''lyncean''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1687 – the constellation Lynx.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1828 – ''lynx-eyed''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1839 – lynx fur.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of several [[wildcat|alt=wildcats]] of the genus ''Lynx'', of northern North America and Eurasia, with long legs, thick soft fur, a short black-tipped tail and tufted ears.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Lynx)'' A faint northern [[constellation]].^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lynx-eyed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bobcat]]

+ * [[caracal]]

+ * [[ocelot]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}