Etymologically
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sicut

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsiː.kʊt][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsiː.kut][1]

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]

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