sepia Latin · revision 4255
15 Oct 2026, 21:27 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=Plautus|origins=grc σηπία}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈseː.pi.a]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛː.pi.a]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''sēpia''' ''f'' (genitive sēpiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|grc|σηπία|tr=sēpía|t=cuttlefish]].^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) The Greek word is often derived from [[m|grc|σήπω|tr=sḗpō|t=to make rotten]], but Beekes thinks it could be a Pre-Greek word.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) A variant spelling is [[m|la|saepia]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Isidore of Seville derived the name from [[saepes|alt=saepēs]] “hedges”, because the fish is caught more easily when shut in.^(Isidore)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Plautus mentions the cuttlefish in the Rudens.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was the cuttlefish, noted for its black, inky liquid, as in Cicero and Pliny the Elder.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Persius uses it of the ink itself, which fades when water is poured in, and Ausonius of ink.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Georges notes that the native Latin word for a squid is [[lolligo|alt=lolīgō]].^(Georges 1913)
+
+ English ''sepia'' came through Italian ''seppia'' in 1815 for the rich brown pigment.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions the cuttlefish.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the cuttlefish.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of ink.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1815 – English ''sepia'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|cuttlefish]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # The ink of the cuttlefish, used for writing; [[m|en|ink]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[sēpiola]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[en|sepia]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}