halcyon

See also: Halcyon

English

WOTD – 2 May 2006

Alternative forms

alcyon

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Alceoun, from Latin halcyōn, alcyōn (“kingfisher”), from Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn).

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhælsi.ən/
(obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈhælʃən/, /ˈhælʃi.ən/[1]
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

halcyon (plural halcyons)

(poetic) A kingfisher whose nesting by the sea was said, in classical mythology, to cause the Gods to restrain the wind and waves.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
  the Halcyon bird, or as some call it Alcedo or Kings-fisher, exceeds all mens conceit. […] Gods decree hath been, that all the watrie wildernesse should be quiet and made calme, without raine, wind, or tempest, during the time the Halcyon sitteth and bringeth forth her young-ones […].
- 1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperour […]‎, London: Printed by J.M. for H. Herringman, published 1667, Act IV, scene iv, page 51:
  Amidſt our Arms as quiet you ſhall be / As Halcyons Brooding on a Winter Sea.
- c. 1880, Ambrose Bierce, On a Mountain:
  And, by the way, during those halcyon days (the halcyon was there, too, chattering above every creek, as he is all over the world) we fought another battle.
1. The dead body of such a bird, said in Tudor times to act as a weather vane when hung from a beam.
  - c. 1589–1590, Christopher Marlo[we], Tho[mas] Heywood, editor, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Ievv of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, OCLC 1121318438, Act I:
    But now how stands the wind?
    Into what corner peers my halcyon's bill?
  - c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene ii]:
    Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks
    With every gale and vary of their master
A tropical kingfisher of the genus Halcyon, such as the sacred kingfisher (Halcyon sancta) of Australia.

Translations

poetic: kingfisher

Catalan: blauet (ca) m
Finnish: jäälintu
French: halcyon (fr) m
Greek: αλκυόνη (el) f (alkyóni)
Ancient: ἀλκυών f (alkuṓn)
Irish: ailcín m
Maori: kōtare
Spanish: alcedón (es), alción (es)
Ukrainian: зиморо́док (zymoródok), риба́лочка (rybáločka), водоморо́з (vodomoróz)
Walloon: vert-pexheu (wa) m, rapexheu (wa) m, pexhrea (wa) m

bird of genus Halcyon

Bulgarian: синьо рибарче n (sinjo ribarče)
Catalan: alció (ca) m
Finnish: metsäkalastaja
Greek: αλκυόνη (el) f (alkyóni)
Hungarian: halkapó, halcion
Spanish: martín pescador, alcedón (es)

Adjective

halcyon (comparative more halcyon, superlative most halcyon)

Pertaining to the halcyon or kingfisher.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene ii], page 84:
  Renege; affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks / With every gale and vary of their masters,
(figurative) Calm, undisturbed, peaceful, serene.
Synonyms: at peace, blissful, calm, peaceful, prelapsarian, relaxed, serene; see also Thesaurus:quiet
- 1787, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers No. 30:
  Reflections of this kind may have trifling weight with men who hope to see realized in America the halcyon scenes of the poetic or fabulous age.
- 1842, Thomas De Quincey, Cicero:
  Deep, halcyon repose.
- 1919, H.P. Lovecraft, The City:
  I had wander’d in rapture beneath them, and bask’d in the Halcyon clime.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess‎:
  The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when modish taste was just due to go clean out of fashion for the best part of the next hundred years.

Derived terms

halcyon days

Related terms

Alcyone

Translations

pertaining to the kingfisher

Finnish: kuningaskalastaja- (fi)
Italian: alcionio

calm

Bulgarian: мирен (bg) (miren), спокоен (bg) (spokoen)
Finnish: tyven (fi)
German: ruhig (de), glücklich (de), friedlich (de)
Italian: alcionio
Maori: aupaki, āio

References

Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎, volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 12.22, page 342.

Latin

halcyōn (kingfisher)

Alternative forms

alcyōn

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn, “kingfisher”).

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈhal.ky.oːn/, [ˈhäɫ̪kyoːn]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.t͡ʃi.on/, [ˈäl̠ʲt͡ʃion]

Noun

halcyōn f (genitive halcyonis); third declension

The halcyon; kingfisher.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	halcyōn	halcyonēs
Genitive	halcyonis	halcyonum
Dative	halcyonī	halcyonibus
Accusative	halcyonem	halcyonēs
Ablative	halcyone	halcyonibus
Vocative	halcyōn	halcyonēs

Synonyms

(kingfisher, halcyon): alcēdō

Related terms

alcēdō
Alcyonē

[1] Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎, volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 12.22, page 342.