caprimulgus

See also: Caprimulgus

Latin

Etymology

From capra (“goat”) + mulgeō (“I milk”). The sense "nightjar" is first attested in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia and represents a partial calque of Ancient Greek αἰγοθήλας (aigothḗlas), following Aristotle's claim in Historia animalium that certain nocturnal birds - often identified as nightjars - suck milk from the udders of goats.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ka.priˈmul.ɡus/, [käprɪˈmʊɫ̪ɡʊs̠]

(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ka.priˈmul.ɡus/, [käpriˈmulɡus]

Noun

caprimulgus m (genitive caprimulgī); second declension

a milker of goats
a nightjar (from the belief that they sucked the milk from goats)

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	caprimulgus	caprimulgī
Genitive	caprimulgī	caprimulgōrum
Dative	caprimulgō	caprimulgīs
Accusative	caprimulgum	caprimulgōs
Ablative	caprimulgō	caprimulgīs
Vocative	caprimulge	caprimulgī

Descendants

Italian: caprimulgo
Translingual: Caprimulgus
→ Dutch: geitenmelker (calque)

References

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

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