Plinius

English

Etymology

From Middle English Plinius, from Latin Plīnius.

Proper noun

Plinius

1. Alternative form of Pliny.
   • 1982 [1981], Tekla Dömötör, quoting Péter Melius Juhász, translated by Christopher M. Hann, “Folk Beliefs at the Time of the Reformation”, in Hungarian Folk Beliefs, Bloomington, Ind.: w; Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 56:

     Plinius wrote about spells and witches in a superstitious manner. […] But the sort of spell which Plinius talks of, smacking of superstition, is false, contrived and quite impossible in true believers.

   • 2002, Simon Scarrow, chapter 6, in When the Eagle Hunts (Eagles of the Empire; 3), London: Headline, →ISBN, pages 43–44:

     “Welcome, sire!” Vespasian saluted, and after the briefest hesitation Plinius followed his legate’s example, swallowing his distaste for such deference to a mere native, albeit a king of his people.

   • 2011, Hank Hanegraaff, “External Evidence”, in Has God Spoken? Memorable Proofs of the Bible’s Divine Inspiration, Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, →ISBN, page 43:

     Contemporary and employer of Suetonius and friend of Tacitus, Plinius was a highly skilled rhetorician well known for letters rightly dubbed literary classics.

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Plinius

1. Pliny

Derived terms

• Plinius der Ältere (“Pliny the Elder”)
• Plinius der Jüngere (“Pliny the Younger”)

Latin

Etymology

From the Roman gens Plinia, an Italic name of obscure origin; possibly from the Insubric (Gaulish) root Plina through rhotacism from prina, or from a north Italic word for “bald”.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpliː.ni.ʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpliː.ni.us]

Proper noun

Plīnius m sg (genitive Plīniī or Plīnī); second declension

1. a Roman nomen gentile, gens or "family name", famously held by:
   1. Gaius Plinius Secundus, Pliny the Elder

Declension

Second-declension noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Plīnius
genitive	Plīniī Plīnī1
dative	Plīniō
accusative	Plīnium
ablative	Plīniō
vocative	Plīnī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Derived terms

• Plīnia
• Plīniānus

Descendants

• Italian: Plinio

References

• “Plinius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Plinius”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Pokorny, Julius. "Indogermanisches Etymologisches Woerterbuch" (in German). University of Leiden.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Plīnius.

Proper noun

Plinius m

1. Pliny the Elder

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “Plinius”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000