noun · femininefirst declension
penna
penna f (genitive pennae)
Classical[ˈpɛn.na]Ecclesiastical[ˈpɛn.na]
Mille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- femininewing (of natural or supernatural creatures)
- femininefigurativelywing as a symbol of speed
- femininefeather, especially a flight-feather; pinion
- femininequill pen
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
quibus avis tegitur; pennae levēs sunt.penna -ae f — in Mille Verba, Animālia
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Ala · Penna · Pluma · Pinna
1. Ala (from ἔχω, vehere) denotes ‘the wing,’ as a joint, like πτέρυξ; penna (πέτεσθαι), with reference to its feathers, like πτερόν. Plaut. Pœn. iv. 2. 48. Meæ alæ pennas non habent. 2. Penna denotes the larger and harder feathers; pluma, the smaller and softer feathers, which serve as a clothing to the body of the bird, like πτίλον. Sen. Ep. 42. Meministi, cum quendam affirmares esse in tua potestate, dixisse me volaticum esse ac levem, et te non pedem ejus tenere, sed pennam. Mentitus sum; pluma tenebatur, quam remisit et fugit. Cic. N. D. ii. 47. 121. 3. Penna denotes the whole, consisting of quill and feathers; pinna, the feather only, in opposition to the quill. (v. 204.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | penna pennula | pennae pennulae |
| genitive | pennae pennulae | pennārum pennulārum |
| dative | pennae pennulae | pennīs pennulīs |
| accusative | pennam pennulam | pennās pennulās |
| ablative | pennā pennulā | pennīs pennulīs |
| vocative | penna pennula | pennae pennulae |
penna or pinna (old forms, pesna, petna, Fest. p. 205, 209 Müll.), f. orig. different words, penna for petna; root petor pat-; Sanscr. patāmi, to fly; Gr. πέτομαι, prop. a wing: pinna for pitna; cf. Sanscr. pitu; Gr. πίτυς, the pine-tree; Lat. pinus; cf.: spiculum, spina;
prop. a sharp point or end. To a late period an effort was made to distinguish them: nec miretur (puer), cur ... fiat a pinno quod est acutum, securis utrimque habens aciem bipennis, ne illorum sequatur errorem, qui, quia a pennis duabus hoc esse nomen existimant, pennas avium dici volunt, Quint. 1, 4, 12 Halm: pinnum enim antiqui acutum dicebant, Isid. Orig. 19, 19, 11 dub. (v. 1. pennus): pinnas murorum, pennas avium dicimus, Flav. Cap. p. 2243 P. This dictum of the old grammar we have to retain, although the distinction is neither etymologically sound nor is it always practically true; cf. bipennis, Bramb. Lat. Orthog. p. 118. In MSS. and edd. the two forms have mostly been used indiscriminately in all meanings except II. D. E. F. infra, in which pinna only is found; cf. esp. Wagn. Orth. Verg. p. 465; Rib. prol. Verg. p. 441 sq.; Corss. Ausspr. 2, p. 270 sq., I. a feather on the body of a winged creature (syn. pluma).
I. Lit.
(a). Form penna:
sine pennis volare haud facile est: meae alae pennas non habent, Plaut. Poen. 4, 2, 48: pennarum tuarum nitor, Phaedr. 1, 13, 6: maduere graves aspergine pennae, Ov. M. 4, 728.—(b). Form pinna:
(aves) pullos pinnis fovent, Cic. N. D. 2, 52, 129: pinnarum caules omnium cavi, Plin. 11, 39, 34, § 97; Sen. Ep. 42, 4: ova parire solet genus pinnis condecoratum, Enn. ap. Varr. L. L. 5, § 59 Müll. (Ann. v. 10 Vahl.): conveniebat corvos ex albis album pinnis jactare colorem, Lucr. 2, 823 Munro: galli salaces, frequentibus pinnis, Varr. R. R. 3, 9, 5; Col. 8, 2, 10: nam his rebus plumam pinnasque emundant, id. ib. 9, 14, 7: ut statim per somnum hianti pinna in os inderetur, Suet. Claud. 33.—II. Transf.
A. In plur.: pennae (pinnae), a wing (syn. ala).
(a). Form pennae:
age tu, sis, sine pennis vola, Plaut. As. 1, 1, 80: quatere in aëre, Ov. M. 4, 676: pennis resumptis, id. ib. 4, 664: vertere, to fly away, Prop. 2, 24, 22 (3, 19, 6): penna, collect. for the wings, Ov. M. 2, 376.—(b). Form pinnae:
geminis secat aëra pinnis, Cic. Arat. 48 (282): pinnas explicare, Ov. Am. 2, 6, 55: o Fides alma, apta pinnis, Enn. ap. Cic. Off. 3, 29, 104 (Trag. v. 410 Vahl.): densis ales pinnis obnixa, id. ap. Prob. ad Verg. E. 6, 31 (Ann. v. 148 ib.): (aquila) praepetibus pinnis (B. and K.; al. pennis), Cic. poët. Div. 1, 47, 106. —Of bees: pinnis coruscant, Verg. G. 4, 73. —Of locusts: pinnarum stridor, Plin. 11, 29, 35, § 104.—Of gnats: pinnae culicis, Plin. 11, 2, 1, § 3.—Prov.: pinnas incidere alicui, to clip one's wings, i. e. to deprive one of power or rank, Cic. Att. 4, 2, 5; so, decisis humilis pinnis, with clipped wings, i. e. with disappointed hopes, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 50; cf. the opp.: extendere pinnas, to spread out one's wings, i. e. to attempt great things, id. ib. 1, 20, 21.—b. Poet., a flying, flight.
(a). Form penna: felicibus edita pennis, i. e. with a happy omen from the flight of birds, Prop. 3, 10 (4, 9), 11; Sil. 3, 344; Val. Fl. 1, 231.—
(b). Form pinna:
pinnā veras dare notas, Ov. F. 1, 448.—B. A feather on an arrow (poet.).
1. Form penna:
per jugulum pennis tenus acta sagitta est, Ov. M. 6, 258.—Hence, 2. Meton., an arrow (poet.).
(a). Form penna:
cervos pennā petere, Val. Fl. 6, 421.—(b). Form pinna:
olor trajectus pinnā, Ov. F. 2, 110.—C. In late Lat., a pen.—Form penna:
instrumenta scribae, calamus et penna: sed calamus arboris est, penna avis, Isid. Orig. 6, 14.—D. A fin. —Form pinna, Plin. 9, 13, 15, § 42.—
E. A pinnacle.—Form pinna:
turres contabulantur, pinnae loricaeque ex cratibus attexuntur, Caes. B. G. 5, 39; 7, 72: milites Metelli ... a pinnis hostis defendebant facillime funditore, Quadrig. ap. Gell. 9, 1, 1; Verg. A. 7, 159: templi, Vulg. Luc. 4, 9.— F. In mechanics.
1. A float or bucket of a water-wheel.—Form pinna, Vitr. 10, 10. —
2. A stop or key of a water-organ.—
Form pinna, Vitr. 10, 13.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
penna ae, f
PET-, a feather, plume (on a bird; often confounded with pinna): pennarum taurum nitor, Ph.: maduere graves aspergine pennae, O.—Plur, a wing : quatere in aëre, O.: pennis coruscant, V. (al. pinnis).— A feather (on an arrow): per iugulum pennis tenus acta sagitta est, O.: felicibus edita pennis, i. e. with a happy omen from the flight of birds , Pr.—Sing collect., the wings : Penna latus vestit, O.
Origins
From Proto-Italic *petnā, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ ~ pth₂én- (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”), with pinna apparently representing a dialectal variant with pre-nasal raising. See also pēnis (“tail, penis”), which penna may have been conflated semantically with.
Descendants
- Catalanpenya
- Frenchpennefrom Old French penne
- Englishpenfrom Old French penne
- Italianpenna
- Portuguesepenafrom Old Galician-Portuguese pena
- Spanishpeñafrom Old Spanish penna
- Portuguesepenhafrom Old Spanish penna
- Romanianpană
- Sardinianpinna
- Aromanianpeanã