sica Latin · revision 34060

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈsiː.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈsiː.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sīca''' ''f'' (genitive sīcae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan finds no way to connect it with the root of [[seco|alt=secō]] “to cut”, and no other etymology, and thinks it may well be a loanword;^(de Vaan 2008) the OLD compares that verb with a “perhaps”.^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary reports a proposed borrowing from early Albanian, comparing [[sq|thikë|t=knife]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Ennius, quoted by Festus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a dagger, by Lewis & Short's account a curved one.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein contrasts the [[pugio|alt=pugiō]], a soldier's weapon used openly, with the ''sīca'', the secret weapon of the assassin, the [[sicarius|alt=sīcārius]].^(Döderlein 1874) Cicero uses it in the speeches against Catiline, and lists daggers among everyday crimes beside poison and embezzlement.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Wiktionary also gives the edge of a boar's tusk.^(Wiktionary) In Medieval Latin the word, by association with [[seco|alt=secāre]], also means a saw.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of daggers.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|dagger]], [[m|en|poniard]], especially a curved one; an assassin's weapon.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # The edge of a boar's [[m|en|tusk]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|saw]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sīcārius]]

+ * [[sicilis]]

+ * [[sīcula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pugio|alt=pugiō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Niermeyer has a separate Medieval Latin ''sica'' or ''sicus'' “stream, ditch”, from Anglo-Saxon.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}