Etymologically
Log in

fidicen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 17:15. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfɪ.dɪ.kɛn][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfiː.di.t͡ʃen][1]

Forms

fidicen m (genitive fidicinis, feminine fidicina); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fidēs2 (“lyre, strings”) + -cen (“player”),[2][1] the suffix coming from canō (“to sing, play”).[2][3] The OLD tentatively compares fidēs with Ancient Greek σφίδη (sphídē).[2][1] De Vaan traces canō to Proto-Indo-European *kh₂n-e- (“to sing”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cicero, and the feminine fidicina from Plautus.[3] In a letter Cicero writes that a most famous lyre player taught Socrates the lyre: “Socraten fidibus docuit nobilissimus fidicen”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Cicero also names it beside the tibicen, and Valerius Maximus and Martianus Capella use it.[4] Horace transferred it to the lyric poet, calling himself the player of the Roman lyre and speaking of a Latin fidicen.[2][4] Grammarians note that the feminines of fidicen, tubicen and tibicen are formed from the genitive, with -a for -is.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a lyre player.[2][4][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a lyric poet.[2][4][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A lyre player, lyrist, harper.[2][4]
  2. (poetic) A lyric poet.[2][4]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de