aquiline

English

WOTD – 11 November 2006

Etymology

From Latin aquilīnus, from aquila (“eagle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæk.wɪ.laɪn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

aquiline (comparative more aquiline, superlative most aquiline)

1. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of eagles; resembling that of an eagle.

   Synonym: eaglelike

   Frank's aquiline nose jutted out from underneath his glasses.

   • 1748, [Tobias Smollett], chapter 22, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC:

     He was about the age of two-and-twenty, among the tallest of the middle size; had chestnut-coloured hair, which he wore tied up in a ribbon; a high polished forehead, a nose inclining to the aquiline, lively blue eyes, red pouting lips, teeth as white as snow, and a certain openness of countenance—but why need I describe any more particulars of his person?

   • 1791, Edmund Burke, Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs‎, London: J. Dodsley, pages 139–140:

     Think of a genius not born in every country or every time: a man gifted by Nature with a penetrating, aquiline eye; with a judgment prepared with the most extensive erudition; with an herculean robustness of mind, and nerves not to be broken with labour; a man who could spend twenty years in one pursuit.

   • 1903 September 26, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Empty House”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC:

     Holmes looked even thinner and keener than of old, but there was a dead-white tinge in his aquiline face which told me that his life recently had not been a healthy one.

   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 11, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 283:

     […] Wani, whose smooth sleekness had been part of his charm, seemed to Nick to grow leaner and ever more aquiline.

   • 2024 March 13, Adam Nossiter, “Philippe de Gaulle, Admiral and Son of Charles de Gaulle, Dies at 102”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     He once recalled, of the father who called him “dear old boy” and whose aquiline nose and rectilinear figure he inherited, “After having hugged me, which he did rarely, he sent me away after 15 minutes.”

Derived terms

• aquilinely
• aquilineness
• aquiline nose
• aquilinity

Translations

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of eagles

Bulgarian: орлов (bg) (orlov) Catalan: aguilenc, aquilí Esperanto: agla, agleca French: aquilin (fr) Georgian: არწივისებრი (arc̣ivisebri), კეხიანი (ḳexiani) German: adlerhaft, Adler- (prefix) Greek: αετίσιος (el) (aetísios) Hebrew: נשרי Hungarian: sas- (hu), sasszerű, horgas (hu) Italian: aquilino (it) m Macedonian: орловски (orlovski) Manx: croymmagh, shawkagh, urleydagh Occitan: agulin Polish: orli (pl) m Portuguese: aquilino (pt) Russian: орли́ный (ru) (orlínyj) Slovak: orlí Spanish: aguileño (es) Swedish: örn-, örnlik Ukrainian: орли́ний (uk) (orlýnyj) Volapük: kvilik

Anagrams

• quiniela

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ki.lin/
• Homophone: aquilines

Adjective

aquiline

1. feminine singular of aquilin

Italian

Adjective

aquiline

1. feminine plural of aquilino

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [a.kʷɪˈliː.nɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [a.kʷiˈliː.ne]

Adjective

aquilīne

1. vocative masculine singular of aquilīnus