gaius

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

1. (Late Latin) jaybird

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	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 ⇒ gazànn-a
  • Lombard: gaxa, gagia
  • Piedmontese: gaj, ghè, ghé, gaja
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Old French: jai
    • French: geai
    • Norman: geai
    • → Middle English: jay, jai, gaye, jey
      • English: jay
      • Scots: jay
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Catalan: gaig, gai
  • 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)

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