dauphin

See also: Dauphin and dauphîn

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Dauphin, from Middle French dauphin, from Old French dalphin, from Latin delphinus; the modern pronunciation is sometimes remodelled on Modern French. Doublet of dolphin.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdəʊ.fæ̃/, /ˈdɔː.fɪn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /doʊˈfæ̃/, /ˈdɔ.fɪn/, /ˈdɔ.fən/
• Rhymes: -ɔːfɪn

Noun

dauphin (plural dauphins)

1. The eldest son of the king of France. Under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, the Dauphin of France, generally shortened to Dauphin, was heir apparent to the throne of France. The title derived from the main title of the Dauphin, Dauphin of Viennois.
2. (allegorical): An eldest son.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

     "I wish we were back in Tenth Street. But so many children came […] and the Tenth Street house wasn't half big enough; and a dreadful speculative builder built this house and persuaded Austin to buy it. Oh, dear, and here we are among the rich and great; and the steel kings and copper kings and oil kings and their heirs and dauphins. […]"

Derived terms

• Dauphin County

Translations

eldest son of king of France

• Catalan: delfí (ca) m
• Czech: dauphin (cs) m
• French: dauphin (fr) m
• Middle English: Dauphin
• Occitan: dalfin (oc) m

• Polish: delfin (pl) m
• Portuguese: dauphin m, delfim (pt) m
• Romanian: delfin (ro) m
• Russian: дофи́н (ru) m (dofín)
• Spanish: delfín (es) m

Anagrams

• pudhina

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Czech

Etymology

From French dauphin

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdofɛːn]
• Hyphenation: dau‧phin

Noun

dauphin m anim

1. dauphin, the eldest son of the king of France and heir apparent to the French throne
   • 1913, Květy‎^[1], volume 35, page 599:

     Malý dauphin jest nemocen, malý dauphin umře… Ve všech kostelích v království stále dnem i nocí jest vystavena svátost oltářní a veliké svíčky plají za uzdravení královského dítěte.

     The little dauphin is ill, the little dauphin is going to die… In all the churches in the kingdom the Eucharist is displayed day and night and big candles burn so that the royal child recovers.

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	dauphin	dauphini, dauphinové
genitive	dauphina	dauphinů
dative	dauphinovi, dauphinu	dauphinům
accusative	dauphina	dauphiny
vocative	dauphine	dauphini, dauphinové
locative	dauphinovi, dauphinu	dauphinech
instrumental	dauphinem	dauphiny

Related terms

• dauphine

Further reading

• dauphin in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• dauphin in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /do.fɛ̃/

• audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Old French dalphin, from Latin delphinus

Noun

dauphin m (plural dauphins)

1. dolphin
2. (heraldry) dolphin; the animal used as a charge

Derived terms

• dauphin à gros nez
• dauphin de Chine
• dauphin du Yangzi
• grand dauphin

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: dofen

Etymology 2

From French proper name Dauphin through association with crown princes of the name, from French dauphin, from Old French dalphin, from Latin delphinus

Noun

dauphin m (plural dauphins, feminine dauphine)

1. successor, dauphin
2. runner-up

Derived terms

• delphinal

Further reading

• “dauphin”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• 'dauphin' in French Wiktionary

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French dauphin.

Noun

dauphin m (plural dauphins)

1. (historical) dauphin (eldest son of the king of France)

   Synonym: delfim