sepia English · revision 1532

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1569}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsiːpiə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈsipiə/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|sēpia|t=cuttlefish; ink]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) in the sense of the pigment probably by way of [[it|seppia|t=cuttlefish]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|σηπία|tr=sēpía|t=cuttlefish]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) It is often connected with [[m|grc|σήπειν|tr=sḗpein|t=to make rotten]] (see [[sepsis]]),^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) which Beekes finds semantically possible but formally problematic, suggesting instead a Pre-Greek word.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The cuttlefish (1569 in the OED and Merriam-Webster Unabridged; before 1398 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The cuttlefish is named for its inky secretion,^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024) from which a rich brown pigment was prepared for drawing inks and monochrome watercolour; in this sense ''sepia'' is recorded from 1815–21.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) It then named a drawing done in sepia (1863)^(OED 1989) and a photograph with a brown tint, especially an early one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023) The adjective, “of the colour sepia”, dates from 1827.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1569 – the cuttlefish.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1815 – the brown pigment (Etymonline); 1821 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1827 – adjective.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1863 – a sepia drawing.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A dark brown [[pigment]] or [[ink]] originally made from the secretion of the [[cuttlefish]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A drawing or picture done in this pigment.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A photograph or print in a brown tint.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A dark greyish or reddish brown colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any cuttlefish of the genus ''Sepia''.^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the colour sepia.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Done or made in sepia.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sepiolite]]

+ * [[sepsis]]

+ * [[septic]]

+ * [[cuttlefish]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}