Etymologically
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biceps

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈbɪ.kɛps][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈbiː.t͡ʃeps][1]

Forms

biceps (genitive bicipitis); third-declension one-termination adjective[1] Priscian reports an old form ⟨bicipes⟩.[2][3] Vulgar forms ⟨bicapitis⟩ and ⟨bicapitus⟩ occur, as in the ablative ⟨bicapite⟩ of an inscription.[2][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin bi- (“two-”) + caput (“head”).[4][5][3] The vowel of ⟨-cipit-⟩ is weakened from that of ⟨caput⟩, as in anceps and praeceps; de Vaan thinks the nominative ⟨-ceps⟩ lost its suffix by analogy with nouns like auceps “bird-catcher”.[6] The noun goes back to Proto-Italic *kaput (“head”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,[6] and Cicero uses it in the De divinatione of a girl born with two heads.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is “two-headed”: Livy reports two-headed pigs among prodigies, Tacitus two-headed births, and it was used of the god Janus.[4][7] Ovid calls Parnassus biceps, with two peaks,[4] and Apuleius has biceps argūmentum, a dilemma.[4][7] Varro and Florus use it for “divided in two”, Florus of a people split into two parties.[4][2]

In Late Latin the Vulgate uses it of a two-edged sword, Sidonius of a double hook, and Augustine of a noose with two loops.[2] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means two-edged or two-headed.[8] English took it as an anatomical adjective in the 1630s, and later as the name of the arm muscle.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a two-headed girl.[4][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it for “divided in two”.[4][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid calls Parnassus two-peaked.[4][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of a two-edged sword.[2][5]
  • 1630s – English borrows biceps as an adjective.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having two heads, two-headed.[4][10]
  2. (of mountains) Having two summits.[4][2]
  3. Divided into two parts, twofold;[4][7] biceps argūmentum, a dilemma.[4][7]
  4. (Late Latin) two-edged; with two hooks or loops.[2][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press