Etymologically
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sepia

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsiːpiə/ (UK); /ˈsipiə/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sēpia (“cuttlefish; ink”),[2][3][4][5] in the sense of the pigment probably by way of Italian seppia (“cuttlefish”),[3][4][6] from Ancient Greek σηπία (sēpía, “cuttlefish”),[2][3][4][5] a word of uncertain origin.[4] It is often connected with σήπειν (sḗpein, “to make rotten”) (see sepsis),[2][4][7][8] which Beekes finds semantically possible but formally problematic, suggesting instead a Pre-Greek word.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The cuttlefish (1569 in the OED and Merriam-Webster Unabridged; before 1398 in Barnhart).[9][8][3]

Semantic evolution

The cuttlefish is named for its inky secretion,[3][8] from which a rich brown pigment was prepared for drawing inks and monochrome watercolour; in this sense sepia is recorded from 1815–21.[4][9][3][5] It then named a drawing done in sepia (1863)[9] and a photograph with a brown tint, especially an early one.[2][5][10] The adjective, “of the colour sepia”, dates from 1827.[9][3][5]

Timeline

  • 1569 – the cuttlefish.[9][8]
  • 1815 – the brown pigment (Etymonline); 1821 in the OED.[4][9][3]
  • 1827 – adjective.[9][3][5]
  • 1863 – a sepia drawing.[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A dark brown pigment or ink originally made from the secretion of the cuttlefish.
  2. A drawing or picture done in this pigment.
  3. A photograph or print in a brown tint.
  4. A dark greyish or reddish brown colour.
  5. Any cuttlefish of the genus Sepia.

Adjective

  1. Of the colour sepia.
  2. Done or made in sepia.
  • sepiolite
  • sepsis
  • septic
  • cuttlefish

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins