/daw"fin/ ; Fr. /doh faonn"/ , n. , pl. dauphins /-finz/ ; Fr. /-faonn"/ .
the eldest son of a king of France, used as a title from 1349 to 1830.
[ 1475-85; dalphin, after DAUPHINÉ, from an agreement to thus honor the province after its cession to France ]