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delfin

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word delfin

delfin1 dolphin

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1682 Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints
Borrowed from
Modern Greek δελφίνι
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek δελφίς
Etymology tree of delfin1
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek δελφύς (delphús)
Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís)
Latin delphīnus
Romanian delfin
The journey of delfin1

Pronunciation

Forms

delfin m (plural delfini)[1]

Etymology

The word for the dolphin is borrowed from Modern Greek δελφίνι (delfíni), according to DELR, which names two learned sources for its modern use as well: borrowed from Latin delphīnus, borrowed from Italian delfino.[2] MDA2 also names Italian, Latin and Greek, while DEX gives only Latin and Italian;[3][4][5] Tiktin gives the Greek and Latin word.[3][4][5] Ciorănescu takes it from Modern Greek and, in its modern use, from Latin.[6]

The Greek word is a diminutive of Hellenistic δελφίν (delphín), from Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís);[7] Babiniotis suggests the first sense was “little pig of the sea”, comparing δέλφαξ (délphax, “piglet”) and δελφύς (delphús, “womb”).[7] The Latin word was borrowed from the Greek one.[8]

The word also exists in Aromanian dilfin (Cunia spells it ⟨dhilfin⟩).[6][9] Ciorănescu compares Turkish dülfin and Albanian dhelfin; an old variant dulf, from Turkish, survives as a family name and a dog's name.[6] The Turkish word is itself from the Modern Greek word.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints (Iași, 1682–1686), the animal of the sea: „Un delfin l-au scos la uscat” “a dolphin brought him out onto dry land”.[2][3][11] Tiktin's first date is 1698, from a Minei.[5]

Semantic evolution

For two centuries the word named only the animal: Cantemir compares the taste of a bird's meat with that of the dolphin in 1705, and Maior and a calendar of 1814 describe dolphins.[11][5] It is also the name of a northern constellation, whose folk name is Crucea or Crucea mică “the (little) cross”.[3][12][13] The name of a swimming stroke, the butterfly with both legs beating together, is more recent: delfinist “butterfly swimmer” is recorded from 1959.[4][2] Șăineanu noted that two dolphins stood for the province of Dobruja on the arms of Romania.[14]

Timeline

  • 1682 – first record, in Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints.[2][3]
  • 1698 – in a Minei.[5]
  • 1705 – in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.[11]
  • 1939 – delfinar “dolphin catcher or keeper”.[2]
  • 1959 – delfinist “butterfly swimmer”.[2]
  • 1970 – delfinariu “dolphinarium”.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. dolphin: a sea mammal of the whale order, with a spindle-shaped body up to three metres long and a long toothed snout, living in groups in all seas (Delphinus delphis); also called porc-de-mare.[4][3]
  2. (astronomy) Delfinul: the northern constellation Delphinus, near the Milky Way.[4][3]
  3. (swimming) The butterfly stroke, with the arms moving together and the legs beating in a vertical plane.[4][15]

Word family

  • delfinariu
  • delfinist
  • delfinar

delfin2 dauphin

Confidence
Established
Formation
Semantic loan
First attested
1812 Șincai's Hronica
Borrowed from
French dauphin
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek δελφίς

Pronunciation

Forms

delfin m (plural delfini)[1]

Etymology

The word for the French title is a semantic loan: borrowed from French dauphin (“dolphin; dauphin”) gave its sense to the name of the animal (homograph 1).[4][2][16] The DLR derives it from the French word with its form after Medieval Latin Delphinus, and DELR allows that Latin model too;[11][2][3] MDA2 names the same French and Latin words.[11][2][3] DELR also records a rare old variant dofin.[2]

The French noun continues a popular Latin Vulgar Latin *dalphinus, an altered form of delphīnus.[17] DELR explains the title: the counts of Albon, later of the Dauphiné, bore it from Guigues IV in the 11th century, who put a dolphin on his coat of arms, and after the Dauphiné passed to the French king in 1349 it was borne by the heir to the throne.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is Șincai's Hronica of 1812, in the sense “heir to the French throne”.[2] MDA2 cites Vaillant's French–Romanian vocabulary of 1839.[3]

Semantic evolution

The word is used only of France: the title of the eldest son of the French king, and the feudal title of the counts of Viennois.[11][4] The DLR lists it in the dictionaries from Vaillant and Polizu on.[11]

Timeline

  • 1812 – first record, in Șincai's Hronica.[2]
  • 1839 – in Vaillant's vocabulary.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (history) dauphin: the title of the eldest son of the king of France, the presumptive heir to the throne; the person bearing it.[4][11]
  2. (history) The feudal title of the counts of Viennois in France.[4][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. delfin¹
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 635
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 285
  5. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. delfín
  6. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. delfin
  7. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
  10. ^ Tietze, Andreas (2002–2018), Tarihi ve Etimolojik Türkiye Türkçesi Lugatı, Istanbul: Simurg; Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. delfin
  12. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 400
  13. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. delfin
  14. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 196
  15. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. delfin
  16. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. delfin
  17. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

  • casă · also from Italian
  • la · also from Italian
  • fugă · also from Italian
  • vioară · also from Italian
  • abate · also from Italian
  • arie · also from Italian
  • cameră · also from Italian
  • special · also from Italian
Cite this entry

“Delfin.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/delfin. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·