Lemizh / English dictionary
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spàsk.
to make dolphins (also the constellation Delphinus; see appendix, Constellations)
Etymology
< NLem spesk‑a
< LMLem tUpèsk‑yr
< MLem tUpeesk‑yr
< OLem tüpēsk‑
< PLem *tū‑pēsk‑, compound of
PLem *tū‑ ‘swell, become strong’, root present of
< PIE *teu̯h₂‑
—and—
PLem *pēsk‑ ‘fish’
< PIE *péi̯sk̑‑os
The dolphin is not, as is often thought, named a ‘strong fish’ or a ‘humped fish’, but a ‘wombed fish’ – as evidenced by the Greek calque δελφίς ‘dolphin’ < δελφύς ‘womb’.
Cognates
Lat tūber ‘swelling, hump’; Eng fish