dauphin meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

dauphin

nounalso spelled Dauphin

UK /ˈdəʊ.fæ̃/ · US /doʊˈfæ̃/

Etymology Inherited from Middle English Dauphin, from Middle French dauphin, from Old French dalphin, from Latin delphīnus, from Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís); the modern pronunciation is sometimes remodelled on Modern French. Doublet of dolphin.

The eldest son of the king of France. Under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, the Dauphin of France, generally shortened to Dauphin, was heir apparent to the throne of France. The title derived from the main title of the Dauphin, Dauphin of Viennois.

Figuratively An eldest son.

"I wish we were back in Tenth Street. But so many children came[…]and the Tenth Street house wasn't half big enough; and a dreadful speculative builder built this house and persuaded Austin to buy it. Oh, dear, and here we are among the rich and great; and the steel kings and copper kings and oil kings and their heirs and dauphins.[…]"1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

Derived terms: dauphinate, Dauphin County, dauphiness
Related terms: dauphine, Dauphiné, Dauphiny, delphinal, Delphinate

Dauphin

noun

/doʊˈfɛn/ · /-ˈfæn/

Etymology See dauphin.

The title of a dauphin.

Coordinate term: Dauphine
French Dauphins: Louis XII ascended to the throne without having been Dauphin. He had two sons, both of whom died young and bore the title. Then the title passed to François I’s son. Henri II and François II succeeded, but Henri IV was not Dauphin. Louis XIII was of his line.1983, Jean-Charles de Fontbrune, translated by Alexis Lykiard, Nostradamus: Countdown to Apocalypse, Pan Books, published 1984, →ISBN, page 36: