fidicina

Forms

fidicina f (genitive fidicinae, masculine fidicen); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of fidicen (“lyre player”), from Latin fidicen + -a.^[2][1] fidicen is formed from fidēs (“lyre, lyre string”) and ⟨-cen⟩, from canō (“to sing, play”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *kh₂n-e- (“to sing”).^[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4] who uses it several times in the Epidicus and the Mostellaria.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It means a woman who plays the lyre, and she appears in the comedies of Plautus and Terence.^[2][3] De Vaan dates the masculine fidicen only from Cicero.^[4] Martianus Capella still uses the word in the 5th century.^[3][5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a girl lyre player in the Epidicus.^[3][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence in the Eunuchus and the Phormio.^[3][5]
• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A female lyre player, lute player, harpist.^[2][3][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de