gavia

Of uncertain origin.

One theory, preferred by De Vaan, derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *gowh₂-i- (“shouter”), seemingly from either *geH- (“to sing, cry”) or *gewH- (“to call, cry out”), and adduces as cognates Sanskrit गु (gu, “to proclaim”), Ancient Greek γοάω (goáō, “to groan, weep”), Proto-Slavic *gȍvorъ (“grumble, talk”), and perhaps Old English ċīeġan (“to call”). He also mentions an alternative connection to gaius (“jaybird”), via an independent onomatopoeic root in Proto-Italic *gā̆-.[1]

Another theory derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *gʰabʰl- (“fork, branch of tree”) (due to the similarity of a hawk's claws to a pitchfork), from *gʰeh₁bʰ- (“to grab, take”); compare Old High German gabila, gabala (“sparrow hawk”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡaː.u̯i.a/, [ˈɡäːu̯iä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.vi.a/, [ˈɡäːviä]

gāvia f (genitive gāviae); first declension

1. common gull and seagull (any kind of gull, generically a kind of bird)

The identity of the gāvia in Classical Latin is uncertain, possibly the gull and the seagull. Modern taxonomic Latin applies the term Gavia to the loon (diver), but Classical Latin called this bird mergus.

First-declension noun.

• Catalan: gavina
• Galician: gaivota (“gull”), gueivota (“gull”), avión (“swallow”)
• Italian: gabbiano (“gull”), gavina (“common gull”)
• Maltese: gawwi (“gull”)
• Portuguese: gavião (“hawk”), gaivota (“gull”)
• Romanian: gaie (“kite”)
• Sicilian: gàipa (“Commons gull”), gaipazza (“yellow-legged gull”), gaipuni (“yellow-legged gull”)
• Spanish: gaviota (“gull”), gavilán (“sparrowhawk”)
• Translingual: Gavia (“loon, diver”)
• Tunisian Arabic: ڨاوية (gāwya, “seagull, black-headed gull”)

• “gavia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• gavia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

gavia f (plural gavias)

1. (nautical) topsail

• “gavia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014