Etymologically
Log in

stillo

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word stillo

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin (stīlla)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈstiːl.loː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈstil.lo][1]

Forms

stīllō (present infinitive stīllāre, perfect active stīllāvī, supine stīllātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is a verb from Latin stīlla (“drop”) + -ō.[2][3][1] Wiktionary takes stīlla for a probable diminutive of stīria (“frozen drop, icicle”), and compares Ancient Greek στίλη (stílē, “tiny particle, drop”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro describes a vessel from which water drips slowly.[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it mostly poetic.[3] Lucretius has clouds that send down rain and drip, and rocks that sweat and drip with trickling drops.[2][3] Ovid and Tibullus use it of honey and ointment dripping, and Cicero of a dagger dripping with blood.[3] As a transitive verb it is to let fall in drops: Horace has a listener who will drip tears from friendly eyes.[2][3] Figuratively Calpurnius has words that ooze out drop by drop, and Seneca uses it of speech that trickles out.[3] Church Latin glosses it to drip.[5]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of dripping water.[2][3][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of dripping clouds and rocks.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a dripping dagger.[3][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of dripping tears.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of a liquid, to fall in drops, drip, trickle.[2][3][5][1]
  2. To drip with a liquid.[2][3]
  3. To let fall in drops, distil; figuratively, to instil.[2][3][1]

Word family

  • dēstīllō
  • exstīllō
  • īnstīllō
  • perstīllō
  • stīllātīcius
  • stīllātim
  • stillātiō
  • substillus
  • stīlla
  • stīllicidium

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Stillo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/stillo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·