canicular days

Meaning

Synonym of dog days.

Etymology

Calque of Latin diēs caniculārēs (literally “puppy days”), from Canīcula (“the Puppy”), a semantic loan of Ancient Greek Κῠ́ων (Kúōn, “the Dog”) in reference to Sirius, which appears in Epic Greek as κῠ́ων Ὠρίωνος (kúōn Ōríōnos, literally “Orion’s dog”) in its elided accusative form κύν’ Ὠρίωνος (kún’ Ōríōnos) in Iliad XXII.22.

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