Etymologically
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Indicus

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Forms

Indicus (feminine Indica, neuter Indicum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἰνδικός (indikós, “Indian”), from Ἰνδία (Indía, “India”).[3] Köbler refers it to the people's name Indī.[4] The English word Indic was taken from it or from the Greek adjective in 1877.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Terence's Eunuchus, of Indian elephants (elephantī Indicī).[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The OLD defines it as “of India” in a broad sense, or of its inhabitants.[1] It formed a number of set phrases: mare Indicum was the Indian Ocean, Indica gemma or Indicus lapillus a pearl, Indica pecus an elephant, Indicum cornū or Indicus dēns ivory, and Indicus color indigo.[1] The neuter used as a noun, Indicum, named the blue dye indigo itself in Pliny the Elder.[2] It remained in use in Ecclesiastical Latin.[6]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence speaks of Indian elephants.[2][4]
  • AD 43/44 – Pomponius Mela names the Indian Sea (mare Indicum).[1][4]
  • before AD 66 – Petronius uses it of pearls.[2][4]
  • AD 23/24–79 – Pliny the Elder uses the neuter Indicum for indigo.[2][4]
  • AD 40–102/103 – Martial uses it of ivory and of elephants.[2][4]
  • 1877 – The English word Indic is formed from it or from the Greek.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of India or its inhabitants, Indian.[1][2][6]
  2. (in set phrases) mare Indicum, the Indian Ocean;[1] Indica gemma, a pearl;[1] Indicum cornū, ivory.[1]

Noun

  1. Indicum (neuter): indigo, a blue dye and pigment.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson