scipio

Forms

scīpiō m (genitive scīpiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][1] De Vaan tentatively sets up Proto-Italic *skeip- and Proto-Indo-European *sḱeip-o- (“pole, stick”), with Ancient Greek σκῑ́πων (skī́pōn, “staff, stick”) as the cognate, and possibly also cippus;^[2] but the family is isolated and may go back to loanwords.^[2] He calls a link with Sanskrit शेप (śépa, “penis”) a wild guess.^[2][1] Others, like Lewis and Short, connect it with a root ⟨skap-⟩, as in σκήπτω (skḗptō, “to prop”) and Latin scāpus.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,^[2][4] meaning a staff or walking stick: a character in the Casina is asked what he has done with his staff (quid fēcistī scīpiōne?).^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was the staff carried by people of wealth or rank,^[3] and especially a ceremonial rod: Livy tells of a knight's staff that caught fire in his hand, and of the ivory staff of men who had celebrated a triumph.^[5][3] The Senate sent an ivory staff with a golden crown and a curule chair as gifts to friendly kings such as Masinissa,^[5][3] and under the emperors consuls carried one too.^[3] Döderlein places it, with baculum, among the sticks used for walking, unlike those for striking or thrusting.^[6]

British Medieval Latin glosses it as the rod of consuls and as a kind of hooked staff.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a walking staff.^[3][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it for the ivory staff of a triumphing general and of friendly kings.^[5][4]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus mentions it.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A staff, walking stick or cane.^[5][3]
2. A ceremonial rod or baton, such as the ivory staff of a triumphing general.^[5][3]

Related words

• cippus

Usage notes

Scīpiō was also a cognomen in the gens Cornelia, borne by the conquerors of Hannibal and of Carthage,^[5][3] and the name came to stand for a model of excellence.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ 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