ˈdȯfə̇n, ˈdȯˌfaⁿ, ˈdōˌfaⁿ noun
( -s )
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: alteration (influenced by French dauphin, from Old French dolfin ) of earlier daulphin, dolphin, from Middle English dolphyn, from Middle French dalfin, dalphin, from Dalfin, Dolphin, the surname of certain lords in medieval southeastern France
1. : a feudal lord of a French territory or province
2.
[Middle French dalfin, dalphin; from the fact that the assumption of this title by the eldest sons of the kings of France was a condition of the cession of the Dauphiné to the house of Valois in the 14th century]
: the eldest son of the king of France — used as a title for the eldest sons from the 14th century to 1830