sibilus

Forms

sībilus m (genitive sībilī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an onomatopoeic word.^[2][3][1] De Vaan notes that the verb sībilō (“to hiss”) is recorded earlier than the noun, and takes the word to imitate a sound /siːb/, or /siː/ with a suffix.^[3] The OLD compares Ancient Greek σίζω (sízō) and ψίθυρος (psíthuros).^[2] Köbler connects it with Proto-Indo-European *su̯ei- (“to hiss, whistle”),^[4][5] and Wiktionary reports a derivation by Gamkrelidze and Ivanov from *sweysd- (“to hiss”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Pacuvius on,^[3][4] of the whistling of the ships' ropes, rudentum sibilus.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It was any hissing or whistling sound: of snakes and other animals, of the wind and of things, and of a shepherd's pipe.^[2][7] Livy has a whistle used as a signal, and Columella cattle called by whistling.^[8][7] Cicero uses it for the hissing of an audience: a man driven off the stage by hisses and abuse, and the taunt sibilum metuis? “are you afraid of being hissed?”.^[2][6] The poets use the neuter plural sibila for metrical reasons.^[8][2]

Medieval writers in Britain use it of the hiss of a serpent, and of a person's whisper or whistle and the whispering of the breeze.^[9]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius writes of the whistling of the ropes.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of hissing in the theatre.^[2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil writes of the whistling of the south wind.^[8][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy has a whistle given as a signal.^[8][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hiss, whistle or similar sound, of snakes and other animals, of the wind, and of things.^[2][8][7]
2. A whistle given as a signal.^[8][6]
3. A hiss of contempt or disapproval, especially from an audience.^[2][8]
4. (Medieval Latin) A whisper.^[9]

Word family

• sībilō

Usage notes

A rare ablative sibilu occurs in Sisenna and a neuter singular sibilum in Celsus.^[2][6] There is also an adjective sībilus “hissing”, found only in the neuter plural sibila (of snakes' necks in Virgil), which the OLD and Georges list as a separate word.^[2][7][8]

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 j k l 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b 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