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silex

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word silex

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsɪ.ɫɛks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsiː.leks][1]

Forms

silex m or f (genitive silicis); third declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2][1] Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny assumed that ⟨*skelik-⟩ was dissimilated to ⟨silik-⟩ in this word and in siliqua (“pod”), but de Vaan rejects this, since it rests only on a comparison with a Slavic word that belongs elsewhere.[3] He doubts that siliqua belongs here at all, given the different meanings.[3] Köbler compares the root Proto-Indo-European *skel- (“to cut”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] who says a woman could make a flint stone love her.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is any hard rock or stone, such as flint or lava, as in Afranius' frost that splits flints, and it is the stone of paved roads and buildings, as Livy's road paved with it.[2] Cato uses it of a single stone or boulder in foundations.[2] From its hardness it stands for lack of feeling, already in Plautus.[2] Church Latin glosses it “flint, rock, stone”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a flint stone made to love.[2][3][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of stones in foundations.[2][4]
  • second half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius of frost splitting flints.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a road paved with stone.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Any hard stone or rock, flint, lava; paving stone.[2][6][1]
  2. A stone, boulder.[2][1]
  3. Figuratively, hardness of heart.[2]

Word family

  • silicārius
  • siliceus
  • siliqua

Usage notes

It is usually masculine, but the poets and late writers also make it feminine, as Virgil, Ovid and Ammianus do.[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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Silex.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/silex. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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