Etymologically
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cicada

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɪˈkaː.da][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [t͡ʃiˈkaː.da][1]

Forms

cicāda f (genitive cicādae); first declension[1] Glossaries also have cicala and cicas.[2]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[3][2] De Vaan considers it probably an onomatopoeic word with reduplication, like cicōnia (“stork”), a bird also known for its clattering sound; it may, but need not, be a loanword.[4] Köbler, Wiktionary and Etymonline take it as a loan from a Mediterranean language,[5][1][6] and Georges calls it onomatopoeic.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and Georges record it first in the comic poet Novius, who has tōtum diem argūtātur quasi cicāda, “chatters all day long like a cicada”;[5][7][8] de Vaan gives Lucretius as its first author.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is the name of the insect, described by Pliny the Elder[3][9] and used by Lucretius and Virgil.[9][7] In Ovid and Juvenal it stands for summer, as in Juvenal's exspectāte cicādās.[9][7] The Ciris and Tertullian use it of a hair ornament shaped like a cicada.[3][7][8] Medieval glossaries render it with Old English words for the cricket and the grasshopper,[10][2] and it survives in Italian cicala.[8] English took cicada in the late 14th century.[6]

Timeline

  • 1st century BC – Novius compares a chatterer to a cicada.[7][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[4][9][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Eclogues and Georgics.[9][7][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the insect.[9][5]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian mentions a cicada-shaped ornament.[7][5]
  • late 14th century – Borrowed into English as cicada.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The cicada, tree-cricket.[3][9][7]
  2. An ornament for the hair in the shape of a cicada.[3][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A cricket or grasshopper.[10]
  • cicōnia
  • English cicada

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press