scitum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈskiː.tũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈʃiː.tum]^[1]

Forms

scītum n (genitive scītī); second declension^[1] Inscriptions have an ablative scītū, as if from a fourth-declension noun.^[2]

Etymology

It is the neuter of the participle of scīscō “to decree, vote for”, the inchoative of sciō “to know”, used as a noun.^[2][1] De Vaan derives ⟨sciō⟩ perhaps from a root “to cut, incise”, Proto-Indo-European *skh₁-i-, through “to distinguish, decide”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^[4] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a resolution of a popular assembly, a decree, statute, especially in plēbis scītum “a resolution of the plebs” and populī scītum “a decree of the people”, as in Cicero and Livy.^[2][5][6]

Medieval Latin used it for a law.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero has plēbis scītum.^[5][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A decree, resolution (of an assembly), statute.^[2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) A law.^[7]

Word family

• plēbiscītum
• populiscitum

Related words

• scīscō
• sciō
• English plebiscite

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill