sigma

Forms

sigma n (genitive sigmatis); third declension^[1][2] Also spelled simma.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σίγμα (sígma, “sigma”), the name of the Greek letter.^[1][5] Köbler, after Frisk, calls the further origin of the Greek name unclear.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius (c. 180–102 BC)^[4] already uses it for the Greek letter sigma.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Because the letter was written in the form of a C, a half circle, the word was used for things of that shape.^[2][3][7] Martial uses it for a semicircular couch for reclining at meals, and Lampridius has the same sense.^[1][2][3] Sidonius Apollinaris uses it for a semicircular bathing tub.^[2][3] Du Cange records it for a table in the shape of a sigma or a crescent, in Peter Chrysologus and later writers.^[8] In British Medieval Latin it was again the Greek letter, also as the numeral 200,^[9] and a 15th-century music treatise uses it as the sign for a pitch between A and B.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius names the Greek letter.^[6][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it for a semicircular dining couch.^[1][4]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it for a semicircular bathing tub.^[2][4]
• 15th century – A music treatise uses σ as the sign of a pitch between A and B.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The Greek letter sigma.^[1][6]
2. A semicircular couch for reclining at table.^[1][2]
3. A semicircular bathing tub.^[2][3]
4. (Medieval Latin) A table in the shape of a sigma or crescent.^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin) The numeral 200.^[9]

Related words

• English sigma

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz