Philomela

See also: philomela

English

Alternative forms

• Philomel (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin Philomela, from Ancient Greek Φιλομήλη (Philomḗlē), from φίλος (phílos, “love”) +‎ μῆλον (mêlon, “apple; fruit; sheep”), but folk-etymologized since at least Ovid's time as "lover of song".

Proper noun

Philomela

1. A female given name
2. (Greek mythology) the sister of Procne who is raped and mutilated by her brother-in-law Tereus and supposedly transformed into a bird by the gods.
3. (literary zoology) The nightingale.

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Φιλομήλη (Philomḗlē, from φίλος (phílos, “love”) +‎ μῆλον (mêlon, “apple; fruit; sheep”)), but folk-etymologized since at least Ovid's time as "lover of song".

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /pʰi.loˈmeː.la/, [pʰɪɫ̪ɔˈmeːɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /fi.loˈme.la/, [filoˈmɛːlä]

Proper noun

Philomēla f sg (genitive Philomēlae); first declension

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek
2. (Greek mythology) the sister of Procne who is raped and mutilated by her brother-in-law Tereus and supposedly transformed into a swallow by the gods.

Declension

First-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Philomēla
Genitive	Philomēlae
Dative	Philomēlae
Accusative	Philomēlam
Ablative	Philomēlā
Vocative	Philomēla

Derived terms

• philomēla

References

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