Orcinus

Translingual

Etymology

From Orca (genus of oceanic animals) +‎ -inus, from orca (“a kind of whale”).

Proper noun

Orcinus m

1. A taxonomic genus within the family Delphinidae – orca, killer whale.

Hypernyms

• (genus): Eukaryota – superkingdom; Animalia – kingdom; Bilateria – subkingdom; Deuterostomia – infrakingdom; Chordata – phylum; Vertebrata – subphylum; Gnathostomata – infraphylum; Tetrapoda – superclass; Mammalia – class; Theria – subclass; Eutheria/Placentalia – infraclass; Cetacea – order; Neoceti – clade; Odontoceti – suborder; Delphinidae – family

Hyponyms

• (genus): Orcinus orca – sole extant species

References

• “Orcinus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Orcinus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Orcinus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Orcinus on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) (1999). International Code on Zoological Nomenclature (4 ed.). The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. →ISBN. Article 30.1.1

Latin

Etymology

From Orcus (the underworld) +‎ -īnus (adjective forming suffix). Sense 2 was used satirically to refer to senators placed into power by a decree written by Julius Caesar but only read by Mark Antony after the former's death. The joke referred to the fact that these politicians only rose to power through the will of a dead man, someone who belongs to the underworld.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɔrˈkiː.nʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [orˈt͡ʃiː.nus]

Adjective

Orcīnus (feminine Orcīna, neuter Orcīnum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (Roman mythology) of or pertaining to the underworld in Roman mythology
2. (politics, historical) Roman senators who had been granted their position of authority by a document, supposedly written by Julius Caesar, that had only been publicized by Mark Antony after the dictator's death
   • c. 69 CE – 122 CE, Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum 2 35.period1:

     Erant enim super mille, et quidam indignissimi et post necem Caesaris per gratiam et praemium adlecti, quos orcinos vulgus vocabat

     There were now more than a thousand certainly unworthy senators chosen after the killing of Caesar through corruption and bribery who the common folk were calling "Orcini."

3. (historical) Ancient Roman freedmen who had been set free by the last testament of their masters
   • Digesta, 26 4.3:

     In qua specie incipit tutela ad liberos patroni primos pertinere, quae ad patronos non pertinuit: quod quidem in omnibus Orcinis libertis locum habet testamento manumissis.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	Orcīnus	Orcīna	Orcīnum		Orcīnī	Orcīnae	Orcīna
genitive	Orcīnī	Orcīnae	Orcīnī		Orcīnōrum	Orcīnārum	Orcīnōrum
dative	Orcīnō	Orcīnae	Orcīnō		Orcīnīs
accusative	Orcīnum	Orcīnam	Orcīnum		Orcīnōs	Orcīnās	Orcīna
ablative	Orcīnō	Orcīnā	Orcīnō		Orcīnīs
vocative	Orcīne	Orcīna	Orcīnum		Orcīnī	Orcīnae	Orcīna

Alternative forms

• Orcīvus

Related terms

• orcīniānus

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: Χαρωνῖται (Kharōnîtai) (calque)

References

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