sicut

Forms

sīcut (not comparable)^[1] A longer form sīcutī is less frequent but classical.^[2][3] The final -i of sīcutī is short in Lucilius.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin sīc (“thus, so”) + ut (“as, how”).^[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,^[4] who has haec sunt sīcut praedīcō, “these things are as I say”, and sīcut dīxī, faciam, “I will do as I said”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Sīcut is “in the same way as, just as”, with or without a correlative sīc or ita; it can have a concessive force, “while … yet”.^[2][3][1] It introduces an example or simile, “just as (for instance)”, and is used in parenthesis, “as indeed (is the case)”, “as I have said”.^[2] It also describes an unchanged state (sīcut erant signātae, “sealed just as they were”), and with the subjunctive means “just as if”.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “as, even as, just as, since, like”.^[5] In Medieval Latin it also means “since”, “in so far as” and “as, as being”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: haec sunt sīcut praedīcō.^[2][4]
• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius has sīcutī with a short final vowel.^[2][4]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it with the subjunctive, “as if”.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Just as, in the same way as, like.^[2][3][1][5]
2. While … yet (concessive).^[2]
3. Just as (for instance), introducing an example or simile.^[2]
4. As indeed; as (I have said).^[2]
5. Just as (it was), unchanged.^[2]
6. Just as if (with the subjunctive).^[2]
7. (Medieval Latin) Since; in so far as.^[6]

Related words

• sīc
• ut
• velut

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill