coturnix

See also: Coturnix

Latin

Alternative forms

cocturnīx, conturnīx, cōtornīx, contornīx, cuturnīx, coturnex (Vulgar Latin, Late Latin)

Etymology

Uncertain; from earlier cocturnīx, possibly from Proto-Italic *kwaktrīx and influenced by cōrnīx (“crow”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷóǵ⁽ʰ⁾-tr-ih₂-k-s, from *kʷeǵ⁽ʰ⁾- (“to flee”), cognate with Proto-West Germanic *hwahtlā (“quail”). Doublet of quaccola (“quail”). Perhaps related to Latin conquinīscō (“to crouch down”), Old Norse *hvekka (“to be startled”), Proto-Slavic *čeznǫti (“to disappear”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [koːˈtʊr.niːks], [kɔˈtʊr.niːks]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [koˈt̪ur.niks]

Noun

cō̆turnīx f (genitive cō̆turnīcis); third declension

quail
“quail” (used as a term of endearment)

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	cō̆turnīx	cō̆turnīcēs
genitive	cō̆turnīcis	cō̆turnīcum
dative	cō̆turnīcī	cō̆turnīcibus
accusative	cō̆turnīcem	cō̆turnīcēs
ablative	cō̆turnīce	cō̆turnīcibus
vocative	cō̆turnīx	cō̆turnīcēs

Synonyms

(Late Latin): qualea, quaccola, quaquila

Descendants

Asturian: cogorniz
Italian: coturnice
Old Occitan: codornitz
Portuguese: codorniz, codorna
Spanish: codorniz
Translingual: Coturnix
⇒ Vulgar Latin: *peturnīcula (see there for further descendants)

References

“coturnix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“coturnix”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
coturnix in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.