sucinum

Forms

sūcinum n (genitive sūcinī); second declension^[1] It is also spelled succinum, which Georges rejects.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[4][5] Lewis & Short, Georges and Wiktionary derive it within Latin, as from Latin sūcus (“juice, sap”) with the suffix ⟨-inum⟩.^[2][3][1] The OLD takes it as probably a foreign loanword, comparing Lithuanian sākas (“resin”), perhaps reshaped after sūcus;^[4] Köbler likewise places its origin in northern Europe.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Pliny the Elder,^[5] who discusses amber at length in the 37th book of the Natural History.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

It named amber, which in antiquity came mostly from the Baltic;^[4] the usual word for it was otherwise electrum.^[2][3] Tacitus uses it in the Germania,^[3][6] and in the plural sūcina meant pieces of amber or amber jewellery, in Pliny, Martial and Juvenal.^[4][3][6]

Medieval writers kept the word: Aldhelm and Bede have it, and glossaries render it by Old English glæres or explain it as “the sap of a tree” or “a stone that draws iron”.^[7]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder discusses amber under this name.^[3][6][5]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses the plural for amber jewellery.^[3][6][5]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses the plural for amber objects.^[3][6][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it in the Germania.^[3][6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Amber.^[4][2]
2. (plural) Pieces of amber; amber jewellery.^[4][3]

Word family

• sūcinācius
• sūcinus

Usage notes

Pliny gives electrum as another name for amber.^[2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press