sicubi
This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 13:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Pronunciation
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
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson