caballus
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
Latin[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Disputed. Generally believed[1] to be from Gaulish/Transalpine Gaulish caballos.[2]. This term is cognate to Welsh ceffyl,[3][1] Manx cabbyl,[1] Scottish Gaelic and Irish capall.[1]
Also proposed is Ancient Greek καβάλλης (kaballēs, “nag”), in turn possibly a borrowing from a Balkan, Anatolian, or north-east European language. Cf. Serbo-Croatian кобила/kobila (“mare”).
Noun[edit]
caballus (genitive caballī); m, second declension
- horse; nag
- pack-horse, jade, hack
Usage notes[edit]
In Classical Latin, the word equus is used for a horse, and caballus is used only by the poets. It's only later, in Vulgar and Late Latin, that caballus appears in prose.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Origins, by Eric Partridge, p. 85
- ^ Delamare 2003 p.96
- ^ The Origin of Language and Nations, by Rowland Jones p. 151
- Delamarre, X. & Lambert, P. -Y. (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise : Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental (2nd ed.). Paris: Errance. ISBN 978 2 87772 369 5, ISBN 2 87772 237 6
