Pliny

//ˈplɪni// name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    An ancient Roman praenomen.

    "The two Plinys, Lucan, (though again under the disadvantage of verse) Petronius Arbiter, and Quintilian, but above all, the Senecas, (for a Spanish cross appears to improve the quality of the rhetorician) have left a body of rhetorical composition such as no modern nation has rivalled."

  2. 2
    An ancient Roman praenomen.; Pliny the Elder, Gaius Plinius Secundus (23–79 AD): an ancient Roman nobleman, scientist and historian, author of Naturalis Historia, "Pliny's Natural History".

    "I will leave off all my childish fooleries and diversions, and set about studying with such a rage, that when you come back next year, you may find the tongue I have now in my mouth more forky than that of some serpents mentioned by Pliny the naturalist."

  3. 3
    An ancient Roman praenomen.; Pliny the Younger, Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (63–c. 113): an ancient Roman statesman, orator, and writer, a great-nephew of Pliny the Elder.

Synonyms

All synonyms
gaius plinius caecilius secundusgaius plinius secundus

Example

More examples

"Pliny the Elder wrote that rye is a very poor food and only serves to avert starvation. This proves that grains were never considered fit for human consumption."

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin Plīnius, an Italic name of obscure origin.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.