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) IPA^(key): /koːˈtur.niːks/, [koːˈt̪ʊrniːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /koˈtur.niks/, [koˈt̪urniks]

Noun

cōturnīx f (genitive cōturnīcis); third declension

1. quail
2. “quail” (used as a term of endearment)

Declension

• The first syllable may also scan short as coturnīx instead of cōturnīx.

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cōturnīx	cōturnīcēs
Genitive	cōturnīcis	cōturnīcum
Dative	cōturnīcī	cōturnīcibus
Accusative	cōturnīcem	cōturnīcēs
Ablative	cōturnīce	cōturnīcibus
Vocative	cōturnīx	cōturnīcēs

Synonyms

• (Late Latin): qualea, quaccola, quaquila

Descendants

• Asturian: cogorniz
• Italian: coturnice
• Old Occitan: codornitz
• Portuguese: codorniz
• 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.