höfrungur

Icelandic

Etymology

Earliest attested in 16th century. No cognates in related languages, Faroese has already adopted dolfin. Asgeir Blöndal Magnusson estimates correlation with -hafur (Old English hæfer, Latin caper) comparing the leaps of the dolphin to those of the goat. Doubtful. Perhaps simply from haf ("sea") and ungur, that is, Hefring, a Norwegian mountain butting into the sea; and Hefring, daughter of Ægir the sea spirit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhœvruŋkʏr/

Noun

höfrungur m (genitive singular höfrungs, nominative plural höfrungar)

1. dolphin; specifically the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)

Declension

Declension of höfrungur (masculine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	höfrungur	höfrungurinn	höfrungar	höfrungarnir
accusative	höfrung	höfrunginn	höfrunga	höfrungana
dative	höfrungi	höfrungnum	höfrungum	höfrungunum
genitive	höfrungs	höfrungsins	höfrunga	höfrunganna

Synonyms

• (Delphinus delphis): léttir

Further reading

• “höfrungur” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)