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cibus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word cibus

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
c. 235–200 BC, Naevius

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkɪ.bʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈt͡ʃiː.bus][1]

Forms

cibus m (genitive cibī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][3][4] De Vaan notes that a root of the shape ⟨*ḱ-bʰ⟩ is not possible in Proto-Indo-European and ⟨*b⟩ is very rare, so an inherited word would need a root ⟨*ḱi-⟩ with a suffix ⟨*-bʰ-⟩, for which nothing matches.[2] It may well be a loanword, perhaps from Ancient Greek κίβος (kíbos, “box, chest”) or κίβισις (kíbisis, “pouch”), as Thurneysen proposed.[2][1][4] L&S connected it with the root of capiō (“to take”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.[2] Ennius has ille trīstis est dum cibum servat, tū rīdēns vorās, “he is gloomy while he saves his food, you laugh and gobble it”, and Plautus quasi mūrēs semper edimus aliēnum cibum, “like mice we always eat other people's food”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Cibus is food for people and animals, nourishment.[3][5][1] It is one's keep or ration (Plautus: Venerī cibō meō serviō, “I serve Venus for my keep”), and a meal (Plautus: prīmus ad cibum vocātur, “he is the first called to dinner”, Lucretius: cibum sequitur somnus, “sleep follows a meal”).[3][1] It is used of the nourishment of plants, of the air as food for living things, and figuratively of whatever sustains someone (Plautus: tibi amor prō cibōst, “love is food for you”).[3] L&S set it beside ēsca and epulae, and opposite pōtiō, drink.[5]

Church Latin glosses it “food, meat, fuel”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: dum cibum servat.[3][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: edimus aliēnum cibum;[3][4] prīmus ad cibum vocātur.[3][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius: cibum sequitur somnus.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. food, fodder, nourishment.[3][5][1][6]
  2. One's keep; a ration.[3]
  3. A meal.[3][1]
  4. Nourishment (of plants; of the air).[3]
  5. Sustenance (figurative).[3]

Word family

  • cibālis
  • cibārius
  • cibicīda
  • cibō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ 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
  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 c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Cibus.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cibus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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