delphin

Latin delphinus (“a dolphin”) +‎ -in.

delphin (uncountable)

1. (organic chemistry) A fatty substance contained in the oil of the dolphin and the porpoise.

• phocenin

• dolphin oil

Unassimilated borrowing of Ancient Greek δελφίν (delphín). See delphīnus.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈdɛɫ.pʰiːn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈd̪ɛl.fin]

delphīn m (genitive delphīnis); third declension

1. alternative form of delphīnus (“dolphin”)
2. Delphinus the Dolphin (constellation)
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.471–472:

     nāvita puppe sedēns ‘Delphīna vidēbimus,’ inquit
     ‘hūmida cum pulsō nox erit orta diē.’

     [...] the sailor, sitting in the stern, says: “We shall see the Dolphin, when the humid night shall have risen, having driven out the day.”
     (See: Delphinus.)

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant or non-Greek-type).

In Classical Latin, Greek endings were used in the nominative and accusative cases. The genitive singular, dative singular and dative/ablative plural are not attested.

• “delphinus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• delphin in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

delphin

1. alternative form of delphyn