Etymologically
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sido

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsiː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsiː.do][1]

Forms

sīdō (present infinitive sīdere, perfect active sīdī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sizd-e/o- (“to sit down”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *si-sd-e/o- (“to sit down”), a reduplicated present of the root of sedeō (“to sit”).[2][3] Cognate with Umbrian sistu (“to sit down”), Sanskrit सीदति (sī́dati, “to sit down”) and Ancient Greek ἵζω (hízō, “to sit down”).[2][1] De Vaan notes that its compounds are attested earlier than the simple verb.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it first in Lucilius;[2] the earliest citation in the OLD is Lucretius, of chalk settling on the limbs.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means to sit down, as people sitting with bent knees in Statius,[3] and more often to come to rest on a surface, to settle: Virgil has doves alighting on a tree,[4] and the OLD also uses it of boats running aground.[3] Lucretius uses it of plains sinking while the mountains grew, and Nepos of a ship that began to sink when rammed.[3] Of the wind it means to drop or abate, as in Silius Italicus when the south wind subsides, and it is used of emotions in the same way.[3] Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan.[4] The OLD assigns forms with the perfect sēdī to sedeō.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius, its first attestation.[2]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of chalk settling and plains sinking.[3]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of a ship sinking.[3]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of doves alighting on a tree.[4]
  • 25–101 AD – Silius Italicus of the south wind dropping.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To sit down, squat.[3][4][1]
  2. To come to rest, settle, alight;[3][4] (of boats) to run aground.[3][4]
  3. To sink to a lower level, subside; to sink in water, go to the bottom.[3][1]
  4. (of wind, emotions) To abate, die down.[3]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press