sicubi

Forms

sīcubī̆ (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of sī (“if”) and ⟨cubi⟩, the older form of ubī (“where”) kept after a prefix, as in alicubi (“somewhere”) and nēcubi.^[2][1] De Vaan traces ubī to Proto-Italic *kwu-þ/fei (“where”) and Proto-Indo-European *kʷu-dʰi (“where”), cognate with Oscan puf (“where”) and Sanskrit कुह (kúha, “where”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it first in Cato.^[3] Köbler dates it from Terence,^[4] who has it in the Eunuchus.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It means if at any place, if anywhere, and wherever;^[2][5] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.^[2][5] Cicero uses it in the Tusculan Disputations, in the speech for Sestius, of anywhere that Gellius turns up, and in his letters.^[5] Stelten gives "wheresoever, if in any place" for Church Latin.^[6]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato.^[3]
• 190–159 BC – Terence in the Eunuchus.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of wherever Gellius appears.^[5]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. If anywhere, if at any place; wherever.^[2][5][1][6]

Related words

• ubī
• alicubi
• nēcubi
• sīcunde

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson