suppus

Forms

suppus (feminine suppa, neuter suppum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

De Vaan, following Weiss, tentatively explains it as inherited from Proto-Italic *soupo- (“on the top, upside down”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eup-(o-) (“up, above”).^[2] On this view ⟨suppus⟩ stands for an older ⟨*sūpus⟩, with the consonant doubled after a long vowel, and is related to Umbrian sopam (“part of the sacrificed animal, guts”), named from the position on the back in which animals were slaughtered.^[2] Weiss compares Ancient Greek ὕπτιος (húptios, “supine, upside down”), from ὑπό (hupó).^[2] If this is right, Italic shares a full grade of the root that de Vaan finds in Hittite ūpp-zi (“to come up (of the sun)”), Ancient Greek ὕψι (húpsi, “on high, above”), Old Irish úasal (“high”) and Welsh uchel (“high”).^[2]

Festus says that the ancients said suppus for what is now called supīnus, and that the word came from Greek with ⟨s⟩ written for the rough breathing.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucilius,^[2] whose line, quoted by Festus, Georges and Conte take in the sense “haughty”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Its sense is lying on one's back, supine, or upside down.^[6][3] Lucretius uses it of those who claim that animals walk about upside down on the other side of the earth.^[6][3] Isidore reports that in dice a throw of three was called suppus, as a throw of one was canis and four plānus.^[3][5]

In Medieval Latin it survives in Osbern of Gloucester's Derivationes, which gives suppus as another word for supīnus.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it, perhaps of a proud man.^[2][4][8]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of creatures walking upside down.^[6][8]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville gives it as the name of a throw of three in dice.^[3][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lying on one's back, supine.^[6][3]
2. Upside down, head downwards.^[6][9]
3. (Lucilius) Haughty, proud.^[4][5]

Noun

1. A throw of three in dice.^[10][5]

Related words

• sub
• supīnus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Simpson, D. P. (1959), Cassell's New Latin Dictionary, London: Cassell
10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.