Etymologically
Log in

sicilis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [siːˈkiː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [siˈt͡ʃiː.lis][1]

Forms

sīcīlis f (genitive sīcīlis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is perhaps from Latin sīca (“dagger”): the OLD compares that noun but marks the origin as doubtful,[2] and de Vaan lists the word among its derivatives.[3] De Vaan finds no way to connect this stem with the root of secō (“to cut”), and no other etymology; the noun may be a loanword.[3] Others derive the word for the sickle from that verb with a change of vowel, and Varro associated sīcīliō with sectiō.[1] Walde, after Meyer-Lübke, kept apart Ennius's word for a spearhead, from the noun for a dagger, and a word for the sickle.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Ennius's Annals, of a weapon carried by the light-armed troops: incēdit vēles vulgō sīcīlibus lātīs, “the skirmisher comes on, everywhere with broad blades”.[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Gellius lists it among the names of weapons.[6][8] Pliny the Elder uses it for a sickle, in a comparison of shape.[5][8] Conte glosses that sense as a small sickle for grass.[9]

The Greek–Latin glossaries give it a Greek equivalent,[10] which Du Cange explains as a shoemaker's knife.[11]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a broad blade carried by light-armed soldiers.[5][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for a sickle.[5][8][7]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius lists it among weapons.[6][8][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sickle.[2][5][6]
  2. A broad blade or spearhead used as a weapon.[5][6][8]
  3. (glossaries) A shoemaker's knife.[10][11]

Word family

  • sicilicula
  • sī̆cī̆licus
  • siciliō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Walde, Alois (1906), Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  11. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre