simia Latin · revision 36663

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=grc σιμός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈsiː.mi.a]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sīmia''' ''f'' or m (genitive sīmiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Usually feminine, rarely masculine; a masculine ''sīmius'' also occurs.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[der|la|sīmus|t=snub-nosed]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) which is borrowed from [[grc|σιμός|tr=simós|t=snub-nosed]].^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) Lewis and Short call the origin doubtful and suggest a link with [[m|la|similis|t=like]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found in Plautus^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012) and in a line of Ennius that Cicero quotes: ''sīmia quam similis turpissima bēstia nōbīs'', “how like us is the ape, ugliest of beasts”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Plautus uses it several times for a pet monkey and as a term of abuse,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Afranius in the masculine,^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) and Horace has the masculine ''sīmius'' of a man.^(Georges 1913) Cicero, Celsus, Pliny the Elder, Martial, Quintilian and Juvenal use it of the animal,^(OLD 2012) and Pliny distinguishes several kinds.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively it was a slavish imitator: Pliny the Younger reports a book that called Rusticus “the ape of the Stoics”.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) The grammarian Sergius says both ''hic'' and ''haec sīmia'' were used.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ English formed ''simian'' from it about 1600.^(Etymonline) In the 18th century and for some time after, ''Simia'' served as the genus name of the primates.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a monkey and as an insult.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius compares the ape to man.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes several kinds of apes.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1600 – English forms [[m|en|simian]] from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|ape]], a [[m|en|monkey]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(term of abuse)'' An ape of a man.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(figurative)'' One who copies another, an [[m|en|imitator]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sīmius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|simian]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}