dauphin

See also: Dauphin and dauphîn

English

Alternative forms

• dauphine (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Dauphin, from Middle French dauphin, from Old French dalphin, from Latin delphīnus, from Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís); the modern pronunciation is sometimes remodelled on Modern French. Doublet of dolphin.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdəʊ.fæ̃/, /ˈdɔː.fɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (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. (figurative) An eldest son.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     "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

• dauphinate
• Dauphin County
• dauphiness

Related terms

• dauphine
• Dauphiné
• Dauphiny
• delphinal
• Delphinate

Translations

eldest son of king of France

• Arabic: دوفِين m (dōfīn)
• Azerbaijani: dofin
• Bulgarian: дофин m (dofin)
• Catalan: delfí (ca) m
• Czech: dauphin (cs) m
• Estonian: dofään
• French: dauphin (fr) m
• German: Dauphin m
• Italian: delfino (it) m
• Korean: 도팽 (dopaeng)
• Latin: delphinus (la) m
• Marathi: डोफें m (ḍophẽ)
• Middle English: Dauphin
• Occitan: dalfin (oc) m
• Persian: دوفَن (dofan)
• Polish: delfin (pl) m
• Portuguese: dauphin m, delfim (pt) m
• Romanian: delfin (ro) m
• Russian: дофи́н (ru) m (dofín)
• Slovak: dauphin (sk) m
• Spanish: delfín (es) m
• Turkish: dofen (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: دوفَن (dofen)

• Ukrainian: дофі́н m (dofín)
• Uzbek: dofin
• Welsh: dolffin (cy) m

Anagrams

• pudhina

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from French dauphin.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

dauphin m anim (female equivalent dauphine)

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 of dauphin (hard masculine animate)

	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

Further reading

• “dauphin”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “dauphin”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “dauphin”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /do.fɛ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost)):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Etymology 1

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

Related terms

• delphinarium

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: dofen

Etymology 2

From French dauphin (“dolphin”), originally a heraldic charge in the arms of the Counts of Albon. Because of this charge, they became known by the late 13th century as the Dauphins de Viennois, which later became their official title. The title was later inherited by the crown and assigned to the eldest son of the King.

Noun

dauphin m (plural dauphins, feminine dauphine)

1. successor, dauphin
2. runner-up

Derived terms

• dauphinat

Related terms

• delphinal

Descendants

• → Arabic: دوفِين (dōfīn)
• → Bulgarian: дофин (dofin)
• → Czech: dauphin
• → English: dauphin
• → Estonian: dofään
• → German: Dauphin
• → Ottoman Turkish: دوفَن (dofen)
  • Turkish: dofen
• → Persian: دوفَن (dofan)
• → Polish: delfin (semantic loan)
• → Portuguese: dauphin
• → Portuguese: delfim (semantic loan)
• → Romanian: delfin (semantic loan)
• → Russian: дофи́н (dofín)
  • → Azerbaijani: dofin
  • → Uzbek: dofin
• → Spanish: delfín (semantic loan)
• → Ukrainian: дофі́н (dofín)

Further reading

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

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French dauphin. Doublet of delfim.

Noun

dauphin m (plural dauphins)

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

   Synonym: delfim