Talk:Elanus

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Savigny 1809

First publication of name "Elanus" http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54256#page/105/ (in French) Pelagic (talk) 18:53, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Etymology of Elanus

I haven't had a lot of luck here. Both Thompson p. 53 and Arnott (, limited previews) cite Hesychius as the only source.

The entry in the 5th-to-6th-century lexicon of Hesychius simply says "έλανος - ίκτινος" (i.e. 'elanus - kite') 1867 ed., p. 504

I can't help but wonder whether the French were attracted by its similarity to words like élan and elancée?

Pelagic (talk) 02:22, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Savigny also notes ελανος Hesych. under synonymes anciens, and goes on to note:

"The Couhyeh, common on the coasts of Syria, of Egypt, of Barbary, no doubt was known to the ancient Greeks; of all small hawks it best deserves the nicknames of [or 'that deserves a better nickname than'?] Ὠκύπτερος and Τανυσίπτεροσ that they gave to certain species."

(French: Observ. Le Couhyeh, commun sur les côtes de la Syrie, de l'Egypte, de la Barbarie, à sans doute été connu des anciens Grecs ; c'est de tous les petits éperviers celui qui méritoit le mieux les surnoms d'Ωκυπτερος et de Τανυσιπτεροσ qu'ils ont donnés à certaines espèces. Is there anyone who knows French and can give a better sense of this?)

Pelagic (talk) 03:02, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Oh, snap! James Jobling has the same quote on HBW Alive . Pelagic (talk) 04:20, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Looks like okypteros and tanysipteros may mean 'swift-wing' and 'long-wing' respectively. (No single reference; that's just a general impression from a number of search-hit excerpts.) Buffon also lists okypteros as a Greek name for les hirondelles, the swallows. Pelagic (talk) 05:44, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

I think it is most likely one of those names known only by a single source, in this case Hesychius, and we will never know its real origin. There are a lot of names like this for plants, which apparently were invented by Theophrastus, Hippocrates and Dioscorides. Piter Keo 17:33, 8 July 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Piterkeo (talk • contribs)