Etymology

Variant of poenicus, from Poeni "Phoenicians" + -icus. The ethnonym is an adoption of Greek Φοίνικες, singular Φοῖνιξ, homophonous with φοῖνιξ, the Greek name of Tyrian purple. There has been some debate as to whether the ethnonym was derived from the name of the dye or vice versa. While it seems in any case likely that both are influenced by the genuinely Greek adjective φοινός "blood-red", the ethnonym goes is recorded already in Mycenean as po-ni-ki-jo, and is apparently a loan from Egyptian fnḫw (fenkhu), a term for "Asiatics, Semites".

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpuː.ni.kus/, [ˈpuː.nɪ.kʊs]