sepia

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈseː.pi.a]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛː.pi.a]^[1]

Forms

sēpia f (genitive sēpiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σηπία (sēpía, “cuttlefish”).^[2][3][1] The Greek word is often derived from σήπω (sḗpō, “to make rotten”), but Beekes thinks it could be a Pre-Greek word.^[1][4] A variant spelling is saepia.^[2][5] Isidore of Seville derived the name from saepēs “hedges”, because the fish is caught more easily when shut in.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus mentions the cuttlefish in the Rudens.^[7][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[8]

Semantic evolution

It was the cuttlefish, noted for its black, inky liquid, as in Cicero and Pliny the Elder.^[7][2] Persius uses it of the ink itself, which fades when water is poured in, and Ausonius of ink.^[2][7] Georges notes that the native Latin word for a squid is lolīgō.^[5]

English sepia came through Italian seppia in 1815 for the rich brown pigment.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions the cuttlefish.^[7][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the cuttlefish.^[7][8]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of ink.^[2][8]
• 1815 – English sepia is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cuttlefish.^[2][7]
2. The ink of the cuttlefish, used for writing; ink.^[2][5]

Word family

• sēpiola

Related words

• English sepia

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
7. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de