halcyon Latin · revision 9439

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Virgil|origins=grc ἀλκυών}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈhaɫ.ky.oːn]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈal̠ʲ.t͡ʃi.on]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''halcyōn''' ''f'' (genitive halcyonis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ More often spelled ''alcyōn'', genitive ''-onis''.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|ἀλκυών|tr=alkuṓn|t=kingfisher, halcyon]], also spelled [[m|grc|ἁλκυών|tr=halkuṓn]], a word of unknown origin.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Etymonline thinks the explanation from ⟨háls⟩ “sea” and ⟨kúōn⟩ “conceiving” is probably an ancient folk etymology for a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Gaffiot cites Virgil's ''Georgics''.^(Gaffiot 2016) Köbler dates Virgil 70–19 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a bird wrongly identified with the kingfisher, which the ancients believed nested on the sea, the halcyon; in Propertius the plural stands for seabirds in general.^(OLD 2012) The adjective ''alcyonidēs'' (''diēs'') named the halcyon days, the calm days when it was thought to breed.^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline)

+

+ British Medieval Latin used it for a seabird, a gull.^(DMLBS) Middle English had ''alcioun'' in the late 14th century, and ''halcyon dayes'' (1540s) translates the Latin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of seabirds.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1540s – English ''halcyon days'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|halcyon]], a bird identified with the [[m|en|kingfisher]], thought to nest on the sea.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (plural, poetic) Seabirds.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alcēdō]]

+ * [[en|halcyon]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}