Etymologically
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tibicina

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Forms

tībīcina f (genitive tībīcinae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of tībīcen (“piper”).[2][1][3] De Vaan analyses ⟨tībīcen⟩ as ⟨*tībio-kan-⟩, “playing on a reed pipe”, from tībia (“pipe”) and canō (“to sing, play”).[3] He finds no good Indo-European etymology for ⟨tībia⟩ and suggests it may be a loanword from the same source as Ancient Greek σίφων (síphōn, “tube”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite it first from Ennius, quoted by Varro.[4] Köbler and de Vaan date it from Plautus.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a female player of the tībia, a pipe girl:[2][4] Plautus has them in the Stichus and the Mostellaria, and Terence in the Adelphoe.[4] Horace, Ovid, Juvenal, Martial and Gellius also use it.[4]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius.[4][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, in the Stichus and Mostellaria.[4][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence, in the Adelphoe.[4][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A female piper, a female flute player.[2][4][1]

Word family

  • tībīcinō

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de