delphin

See also: Delphin

English

Etymology

Latin delphinus (“a dolphin”) +‎ -in.

Noun

delphin (uncountable)

1. (organic chemistry) A fatty substance contained in the oil of the dolphin and the porpoise.

Synonyms

• phocenin

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “delphin”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Latin

Etymology

Unassimilated borrowing of Ancient Greek δελφίν (delphín). See delphīnus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈdel.pʰiːn/, [ˈd̪ɛɫ̪pʰiːn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈdel.fin/, [ˈd̪ɛlfin]

Noun

delphīn m (genitive delphīnis); third declension

1. Alternative form of delphīnus (“dolphin”)
2. Delphinus the Dolphin (constellation)
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.471–472:

     nāvita puppe sedēns ‘Delphīna vidēbimus,’ inquit
     ‘hūmida cum pulsō nox erit orta diē.’

     [...] the sailor, sitting in the stern, says: “We shall see the Dolphin, when the humid night shall have risen, having driven out the day.”
     (See: Delphinus.)

Declension

Third-declension noun with irregular accusative singular and plural.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	delphīn	delphīnēs
Genitive	delphīnis	delphīnum
Dative	delphīnī	delphīnibus
Accusative	delphīna	delphīnās
Ablative	delphīne	delphīnibus
Vocative	delphīn	delphīnēs

Genitive singular, dative singular and dative/ablative plural are not attested.

References

• “delphinus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• delphin in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Middle English

Noun

delphin

1. Alternative form of delphyn