accipiter

Learned borrowing from Latin accipiter (“hawk”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /ækˈsɪp.ə.tɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

accipiter (plural accipiters)

1. (ornithology) Any hawk of the genus Accipiter.
2. (ornithology) Any hawk formerly classified in the genus Accipiter, such as Tachyspiza and Astur.
3. (medicine, surgery) A bandage applied over the nose, resembling the claw of a hawk.

• acceptor (Late Latin)

Uncertain. The term parallels other formations in other Indo-European languages, such as Proto-Slavic *àstrę̄bъ, Sanskrit आशुपत्वन् (āśupátvan), and Ancient Greek ὠκύπτερος (ōkúpteros, “swift-winged”).

De Vaan argues that the first part of the compound, ac-, possibly derives from Proto-Indo-European *HéHḱus (“swift, quick”). Alternatively, the philologist Claire Le Feuvre argues that this component probably derives from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-, whence also acus. The second part of the compound, -piter, possibly derives from earlier *petro- or *petri-, both of which—according to De Vaan—may have meant "wing." This second component is most likely connected to Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out, fly”). De Vaan provides a Proto-Italic pre-form *aku-petris (“having swift/pointed wings”).

Based on the comparison with Ancient Greek, Beekes suggests a possible Proto-Indo-European pre-form *HHḱu-petro- (“fast-flying”). According to Nussbaum, the connection with Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón) requires an earlier Latin form *aci-pteri-, which would have evolved into accipiter via anaptyxis. Nussbaum argues that the reconstruction *-petris for the second component is preferable to ensure consistency with Sanskrit पत्र (pátra). Nevertheless, Nussbaum still considers the latter reconstruction problematic, arguing that Plautine accipetrina attests to a continuation of the original vocalism. Instead, Nussbaum opts for a reconstruction *aci-peter- based on a comparison with Hittite pát-tar.

The geminate -cc- is perhaps influenced by accipiō (“take, seize”). Alternatively, it has been explained as a development from earlier *āci- via the littera-rule. Though, Nussbaum rejects the second possibility as it would be the only known example in which the littera-rule affected a vowel that was not long -ī- or -ū-.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [akˈkɪ.pɪ.tɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [atˈt͡ʃiː.pi.ter]

accipiter m (genitive accipitris); third declension

1. hawk, merlin

   Synonyms: acceptor, astur, falcō, nīsus

   • 8 CE – 12 CE, Ovid, Sorrows 1.75–76:

     Terrētur minimō pennae strīdōre columbā,
     unguibus, accipiter, sauciā facta tuīs.

     The dove is terrified by the slightest rustle of a feather, having been wounded by your talons, hawk.

2. a rapacious man

Third-declension noun.

(mostly via Vulgar Latin acceptor)

• “accipiter”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “accipiter”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “accipiter”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “accipiter”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 120
• 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 21
• Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 191
• Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon [Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, page 201
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1677-1678
• Kanehiro Nishimura (2014), “Vowel Lengthening in the Latin Nominal Lexicon: Innovation and Inheritance”, in Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics‎^[1], volume 127, →ISSN, pages 243-244
• Nussbaum, Alan (1976), Caland's "Law" and the Caland System‎^[2], pages 8-10
• Claire Le Feuvre (2011), “Gr. τρυγών ‘1. turtledove; 2. stingray (fish)’: one word or two words?”, in Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia (SEC)‎^[3], volume 16, number 1, →ISSN, page 29