squalus

See also: Squalus

Latin

Etymology 1

Uncertain.

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”), cognate with Ancient Greek ἄσπαλος (áspalos), Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬭𐬀 (kara, “kind of fish”), Old Prussian kalis, and Old English hwæl (“whale”); more information at whale.
De Vaan suggests that it might be related to Latin squāma (“scale”). De Vaan proposes that the term came to refer to a species of fish based on its scales. If this theory is accepted, the term must be pronounced as squālus.

Pronunciation

If pronounced as squalus

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈskʷa.ɫʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈskʷaː.lus]

If pronounced as squālus

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈskʷaː.ɫʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈskʷaː.lus]

Noun

squalus m (genitive squalī); second declension

a kind of large sea fish, thought to be a shark
- 23 CE – 79 CE, Plinius Maior, Historia Naturalis 9.42:
  planorum piscium alterum est genus, quod pro spina cartilaginem habet, ut raiae, pastinacae, squatinae, torpedo et quos bovis, lamiae, aquilae, ranae nominibus graeci appellant. quo in numero sunt squali quoque, quamvis non plani. haec graece in universum σελάχη appellavit aristoteles primus hoc nomine iis inposito. nos distinguere non possumus, nisi si cartilaginea appellare libeat. omnia autem carnivora sunt talia et supina vescuntur, ut in delphinis diximus, et cum ceteri pisces ova pariant, hoc genus solum, ut ea quae cete appellant, animal parit, excepta quam ranam vocant.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

According to De Vaan, the length of the vowel ⟨a⟩ is unknown as the word only occurs in prose.
According to the archaeozoologist Andrea Guaspari, squalus most likely referred to a galeomorph or a squalomorph.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	squalus	squalī
genitive	squalī	squalōrum
dative	squalō	squalīs
accusative	squalum	squalōs
ablative	squalō	squalīs
vocative	squale	squalī

Alternative forms

squatus

Descendants

Asturian: escualu
Catalan: esqual
French: squale
Galician: escalo, escallo
Italian: squalo
Ligurian: squæo
Portuguese: esqualo, escalo, escalho, escalheiro
Romanian: scal
Romansh: squagl
Spanish: escualo

Etymology 2

Possibly related to squāma (“scale”), of unknown origin. In the sense of dirty, unkempt, this word has traditionally been associated with the cognates listed at cālīgō (“darkness, mist”), although these associations are tenuous.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈskʷaː.ɫʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈskʷaː.lus]

Adjective

squālus

unkempt, dirty

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	squālus	squāla	squālum	squālī	squālae	squāla
genitive	squālī	squālae	squālī	squālōrum	squālārum	squālōrum
dative	squālō	squālae	squālō	squālīs
accusative	squālum	squālam	squālum	squālōs	squālās	squāla
ablative	squālō	squālā	squālō	squālīs
vocative	squāle	squāla	squālum	squālī	squālae	squāla

Derived terms

References

“squalus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“squalus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
“squalus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
De Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 584
Andrea Guasparri (2022), “The Roman classification and nomenclature of aquatic animals: an annotated checklist (with a focus on ethnobiology)”, in Anthropozoologica‎^[1], volume 57, number 2, →DOI, pages 19–100
Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 634