dactylus Latin · revision 9302

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Cicero|origins=grc δάκτυλος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈdak.ty.ɫʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdak.ti.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dactylus''' ''m'' (genitive dactylī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''dactylos''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|δάκτυλος|tr=dáktulos|t=finger; dactyl; date]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Köbler suggests that the Greek word for the date is a loan from a Semitic language.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Cicero, of the metrical foot.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a dactyl, the metrical foot of one long and two short syllables, like the joints of a finger, as in Cicero.^(OLD 2012) In Columella it was a kind of vine with long grapes, in Pliny the Elder a date and a razor shell, and the ''Dactylī Īdaeī'' were mythical beings of Mount Ida.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it meant a date.^(Niermeyer 1976) British Medieval Latin glossaries render it as a finger.^(DMLBS) Through Old Provençal ''datil'' and Old French ''date'' it gave [[en|date]] “fruit of the date palm” about 1300, and [[en|dactyl]] in the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the metrical foot.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the date.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English ''date'' (fruit) is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|dactyl]] (metrical foot).^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|date]] (fruit).^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # A kind of vine; a razor shell.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[digitus]]

+ * [[en|dactyl]]

+ * [[en|date]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}