strix

Forms

strī̆x f (genitive strī̆gis); third declension^[1] Plautus scans the oblique cases with a long vowel, strīg-, but Lewis & Short give strĭgis.^[2][3] Statius has the nominative plural strigĕs.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek στρίξ (stríx, “screecher”),^[2][1] also στρίγξ (strínx).^[2][3][4] The OLD compares τρίζω (trízō) and strīdeō (“to make a shrill sound”), and Wiktionary calls the Greek word probably imitative.^[2][1] Köbler compares Proto-Indo-European *streig- (“to hiss, whir”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Plautus,^[2][5] as the name of a bird of ill omen.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The Romans believed that this night bird sucked the blood of small children, so it was also taken for a kind of vampire or harpy.^[3][4][1] Ovid tells of these birds in the Fasti, and Tibullus, Propertius, Pliny the Elder and Petronius mention them.^[3] Festus and the grammarians Charisius and Bede discuss the word.^[4] Strīga, “witch, evil spirit”, comes from the same Greek word.^[1] It survives in Italian strige.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, the bird of ill omen.^[2][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid tells of the birds in the Fasti.^[3][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder discusses the bird.^[3][5]
• c. 45–96 AD – Statius has the plural strigĕs.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A kind of owl, probably the screech owl, regarded as a bird of ill omen.^[2][3][1]
2. An evil spirit or vampire thought to suck the blood of children.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• strīga
• strīdeō

Usage notes

Pliny the Elder has a separate word strix for a small nugget of gold, which the OLD marks as doubtful;^[2][6] Wiktionary suggests a Paleo-Hispanic origin for it.^[1] Vitruvius uses strix for a groove or flute in a column, where some editors read striae.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier