coturnix

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

Noun

cō̆turnīx f (genitive cō̆turnīcis); third declension

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

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.