palumbes

Latin

Alternative forms

• palumba, palumbis, palumbus

wood pigeon

Etymology

Possibly a derivative of Proto-Italic *palwos, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥H-wo- (“dark-colored, gray”), from *pelH- (“gray, pale”), owing to the color of the pigeon's plumage. Compare Ancient Greek πέλειᾰ (péleia, “rock pigeon”) and Old Prussian poalis (“pigeon”); see palleō (“to be pale”) for more potential cognates. However, the suffix is unexplained and resembles that in Ancient Greek κολυμβῐ́ς (kolumbís, “diver, little grebe, pigeon”), which may point to substrate origin.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /paˈlum.beːs/, [päˈɫ̪ʊmbeːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /paˈlum.bes/, [päˈlumbes]

Noun

palumbēs m or f (genitive palumbis); third declension

1. woodpigeon / wood-pigeon / wood pigeon; ring dove

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	palumbēs	palumbēs
Genitive	palumbis	palumbium
Dative	palumbī	palumbibus
Accusative	palumbem	palumbēs palumbīs
Ablative	palumbe	palumbibus
Vocative	palumbēs	palumbēs

Derived terms

• palumbārius
• palumbīnus
• palumbulus

 

References

• “palumbes”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “palumbes”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• palumbes in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.