delphin, n. and a.
(ˈdɛlfɪn)
Forms: 4 delfyn, 5 -fyne, 5–6 delphyn, 6–7 -phine, 6– delphin.
[a. L. delphīn, delphīn-us, a. Gr. δελϕίν: cf. also It. delfino, Sp. delfin, Pg. delfim, Pr. dalfin, dalphin, OF. dalphin, daulphin, mod.F. dauphin, whence dolphin, dauphin.]
† A. n.
1. = dolphin. Obs.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 6576 A water..Tiger..Heo noriceth delfyns, and cokadrill. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 41 Thar buth oft ytake delphyns, & se-calues. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 54 Brunswyne or delfyne..delphinus. 1555 Eden Decades 131 Of a maruelous sence or memorie as are the elephant and the delphyn. 1633 P. Fletcher Pisc. Ecl. vii. xiii. 47 The lively Delphins dance, and brisly Seales give eare. |
† b. A drinking vessel of the shape of a dolphin. Obs. rare—1.
| 1638 Junius Painting of Ancients 162 Some artificiall drinking vessels made after the manner of a dolphin, were called delphines. |
2. Chem. Short for delphinin (see -in): A neutral fat found in the oil of several species of dolphin; called also dolphin-fat and phocenin.
| 1863–72 Watts Dict. Chem. II. 309 Delphin is an oil very mobile at 17° C. |
B. adj.
1. [attrib. use of L. delphīnī in phrase ad usum Delphini ‘for the use of the Dauphin’.] Of or pertaining to the Dauphin of France, and to the edition of Latin classics, prepared ‘for the use of the dauphin’, son of Louis XIV.
| [1712 Steele Spect. No. 330. ¶4 All the Boys in the School, but I, have the Classick Authors in usum Delphini, gilt and letter'd on the Back.] 1775 E. Harwood Gr. & Rom. Classics (1778) 222 Delphin Classics, quarto. 1802 Dibdin Introd. Classics 10 note, One of the rarest of the Delphin editions. 1818 Advt. in Valpy's Grk. Gram. (ed. 6) 215 The best text will be used, and not the Delphin. 1877 Globe Encycl. II. 361 Valpy's Variorum Latin Classics..contain the Delphin notes and Interpretatio. |
¶ A bad form of delphine, delphinine.