canicular days

English

Etymology

Calque of Latin diēs caniculārēs (literally “puppy days”), from Canīcula (“the Puppy”),[1] a semantic loan of Ancient Greek Κῠ́ων (Kŭ́ōn, “the Dog”) in reference to Sirius, which appears in Epic Greek as κῠ́ων Ὠρίωνος (kŭ́ōn Ōríōnos, literally “Orion’s dog”) in its elided accusative form κύν’ Ὠρίωνος (kún’ Ōríōnos) in Iliad XXII.29.

Noun

canicular days pl (plural only)

  1. (archaic) Synonym of dog days.

References

  1. ^ "canicular days, n." in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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