gaius

Latin

Alternative forms

gaia f

Etymology

Probably of imitative origin, or related to the personal name Gaius.^[1] Though only attested in Late Latin, it has been suggested that the name of the bird is archaic and predates the personal name.^[2]

Noun

gaius m (genitive gaiī); second declension (Late Latin)

jaybird

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	gaius	gaiī
genitive	gaiī	gaiōrum
dative	gaiō	gaiīs
accusative	gaium	gaiōs
ablative	gaiō	gaiīs
vocative	gaie	gaiī

Descendants

Italo-Romance:
- Sicilian: gaju
Gallo-Italic:
- Ligurian: gaza ⇒ gazzaña
- Lombard: gaxa, gagia
- Piedmontese: gaj, ghè, ghé, gaja, ghèja, gasa
Gallo-Romance:
- Aragonese: gai
- Catalan: gaig, gai
- Franco-Provençal: géc
- Old French: jai (see there for further descendants)
- Occitan: gag, gai

References

gaius in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

^ Myers, Susan (2022) The Bird Name Book: A History of English Bird Names, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 181
^ Palmer, Robert E. A. (1970) The Archaic Community of the Romans, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 145, note 1

[1] Myers, Susan (2022) The Bird Name Book: A History of English Bird Names, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 181

[2] Palmer, Robert E. A. (1970) The Archaic Community of the Romans, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 145, note 1

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[2]