sirus

Forms

sīrus m (genitive sīrī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σιρός (sirós, “pit for storing grain”),^[2][1][3] also spelled σειρός (seirós).^[2][4] In Greek it is a technical word without an etymology, which Beekes takes to be Pre-Greek; the quantity of its vowel varies.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro still writes it in Greek letters;^[6] in Latin script it is found in Vitruvius and Columella,^[6][4] for an underground pit in which grain was stored, a silo.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Its meaning did not change: Columella, Quintus Curtius and Pliny the Elder all use it of an underground granary.^[6][7] L&S compares cumera, a grain bin.^[6]

English silo comes from Spanish silo, which has traditionally been derived from it, although the change from /r/ to /l/ is unexplained.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro writes the word in Greek letters.^[6][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it.^[6][4]
• 1st century AD – Columella and Quintus Curtius use it for an underground granary.^[6][7][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it.^[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An underground pit for storing grain, a silo.^[2][6][9]

Related words

• cumera
• English silo

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn