canicular days

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Calque of Latin diēs caniculārēs (literally puppy days), from Canīcula (the Puppy),[1] a semantic loan of Ancient Greek Κῠ́ων (Kúōn, the Dog) in reference to Sirius, which appears in Epic Greek as κῠ́ων Ὠρίωνος (kúōn Ōríōnos, literally Orion’s dog) in its elided accusative form κύν’ Ὠρίωνος (kún’ Ōríōnos) in Iliad XXII.22.

Noun[edit]

canicular days pl (plural only)

  1. (archaic) Synonym of dog days.

References[edit]

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