Etymologically
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strix

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈstriːks], [ˈstrɪks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈstriks][1]

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]
  • 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