noun · femininefirst declension
rubē̆cū̆la
rubē̆cū̆la f (genitive rubē̆cū̆lae)
Meaning
- New LatinThe European robin
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | rubē̆cū̆la | rubē̆cū̆lae |
| genitive | rubē̆cū̆lae | rubē̆cū̆lārum |
| dative | rubē̆cū̆lae | rubē̆cū̆līs |
| accusative | rubē̆cū̆lam | rubē̆cū̆lās |
| ablative | rubē̆cū̆lā | rubē̆cū̆līs |
| vocative | rubē̆cū̆la | rubē̆cū̆lae |
Origins
Derived in some way from the root of rubeō (“to be red”). In the context of William Turner's Avium Praecipuarum (1544) it translates Ancient Greek ἐρίθᾰκος (eríthăkos), a bird name used by Aristotle. The Latin form of the name seems to have been coined by Theodorus Gaza for his translation of Aristotle’s Historia animalium in 1476; it is possible that he interpreted ἐρύθακος (erúthakos) (an alternative manuscript reading of the Greek name) as a compound of ἐρυθρός (eruthrós, “red”) and θᾶκος (thâkos, “seat”) and created the Latin form as a compound ending in cūlus (“posterior”). Alternatively, it may be an irregularly formed diminutive (with the ending -culus). The feminine gender may follow that of the hypernym avis f (“bird”).