singultio

Forms

singultiō (present infinitive singultīre); fourth conjugation, no perfect or supine stems^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin singultus (“sobbing; a hiccup”) + -iō.^[2][3] Wiktionary treats it, with singultō, as related to ⟨singultus⟩, whose origin it calls unknown.^[1] De Vaan lists singultus among the words he files under gluttō (“to swallow”), a group he explains as an onomatopoeic formation in ⟨gul-⟩ / ⟨glu-⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Celsus, in the 1st century AD, has it of patients who “either vomit bile or hiccup” (aut bilem vomunt aut singultiunt).^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Besides the hiccup, it meant to catch the breath in weeping, to sob, a sense L&S cites from Apuleius.^[2][5][3] Columella used it of a hen, to cluck,^[2][5] and Persius, in a coarse satirical line, of a vein that throbs with lust.^[2][5][3] Pliny the Elder also has it of hiccuping.^[5][3]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of hiccuping patients.^[2][6]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a clucking hen.^[2][5][6]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of a throbbing vein.^[2][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of hiccuping.^[5][3][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of sobbing.^[5][3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hiccup.^[2][5]
2. To gasp; to catch the breath in weeping, to sob.^[2][5]
3. (of a hen) To cluck.^[2][5]
4. To throb, pulsate.^[2][5]

Related words

• singultus

Usage notes

The first-conjugation singultō has much the same meaning, “to gasp, to sob”, and is used mainly by the poets;^[2][5] singultiō belongs more to prose and medical writing.^[2][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de