siccus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsɪk.kʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsik.kus]^[1]

Forms

siccus (feminine sicca, neuter siccum, comparative siccior); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It may be inherited from Proto-Italic *siskwo-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *si-sk-u- (“dry”), from a root *sek- “to dry up”.^[2][1] Cognate with Middle Irish sesc (“dry, barren”), Avestan 𐬵𐬌𐬱𐬐𐬎 (hišku-, “dry”) and Middle Welsh hysp (“dry”), but how this gave the double /kk/ is unclear, so the etymology is uncertain.^[2][3] Ernout and Meillet and Pokorny instead connected *seikʷ- “to pour”, as “lacking water”, which de Vaan finds awkward.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato, who says grapes for wine should be gathered ripe and dry.^[2][3] Köbler dates it from Plautus.^[4] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant dry, free from moisture, as dry hands and dry sand, and of hair not anointed.^[3][5] In medicine it described conditions without discharge, as a dry cough, and dryness as a sign of health.^[3] Things lacking their natural moisture were dried up, the dry element among the four, dry winds and air, and liquids dried up.^[3] Figuratively it meant sober, “dry” of drink, and of style plain and sober, as Cicero's sound and dry orators.^[5][6]

Döderlein contrasts siccus, dry outside, with āridus, dried within.^[7] It survives in Italian secco, French sec and Spanish seco, and dēsiccāre gave English desiccate in the 1570s.^[1][8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato speaks of dry grapes.^[3][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of dry sand.^[5][4]
• 1570s – English desiccate is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Dry, free from moisture.^[3]
2. (of hair) Not anointed.^[3]
3. (medicine) Without discharge, dry; healthy.^[3]
4. Dried up, parched, (of winds) dry.^[3]
5. Sober, abstinent.^[5][6]
6. (of style) Plain, sober.^[6]

Word family

• persiccus
• praesiccus
• semisiccus
• siccānus
• siccarius
• siccificus
• siccitās
• siccō
• siccoculus
• siccē

Related words

• assiccescō
• assiccō
• dēsiccō
• exsiccātiō
• exsiccātus
• exsiccescō
• exsiccō
• insiccābilis
• insiccātus
• perexsiccātus
• āridus
• English desiccate

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes siccus (dry, without external moisture, opposed to ūmidus), āridus (dried through) and torridus (scorched).^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com