sincerus Latin · revision 742

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [sɪŋˈkeː.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [sin̠ʲˈt͡ʃɛː.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sincērus''' (feminine sincēra, neuter sincērum, comparative sincērior, adverb sincērē or sincēriter); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It goes back to [[itc-pro|*sm-kair/so-|t=whole, intact]], a compound whose first part is the root of [[semel]] and [[simplex]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan follows Hiltbrunner and an older suggestion of Corssen in taking the second part as an unattested adjective *caerus “whole, intact”, also seen in [[caerimonia|alt=caerimōnia]], and compares [[ine-pro|*keh₂i-lo-|t=whole]] in [[cu|цѣлъ|tr=cělŭ|t=whole]] and Germanic *hailaz.^(de Vaan 2008) He rejects a link with [[procerus|alt=prōcērus]], which the OLD still considers,^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) and Wiktionary notes a phonological problem with the proposal, since Proto-Italic /ai/ should give ''ī'' in this position.^(Wiktionary) The popular story that it means “without wax”, from [[m|la|sine]] [[m|la|cera]], has no basis,^(Etymonline) although Georges mentions it as a possibility.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) In the ''Rudens'' a slave boasts of a back so [[m|en|unblemished]] that a leather-worker would call it the soundest hide for his trade.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense was physical: sound, whole and unblemished, of skin, vessels and bodies.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From this it meant clear, of liquids and light, and unmixed or pure, of substances, of a people's descent, and of a style of speaking.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In a moral sense it meant free from falseness, genuine, and of a historian such as Thucydides, faithful and straightforward.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In Christian Latin the sense “sincere, faithful” became dominant,^(Stelten 1995) and this is the sense in which English borrowed [[en|sincere]] through French in the 1530s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of an unmarked back.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the pure nature of the soul.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero distinguishes the false from the ''sincera'' and calls Thucydides a ''sincerus'' narrator.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace writes that a vessel which is not clean sours whatever is poured in.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1530s – English borrows it through French as [[en|sincere]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Sound, whole, [[m|en|unblemished]]; unimpaired.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Clear, unclouded (of liquids, air, light).^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|pure|alt=Pure]], unmixed; of style, pure.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Faithful, straightforward (of a writer).^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # Free from falseness, genuine, [[m|en|sincere]].^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Real, true.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[īnsincērus]]

+ * [[sincēritās]]

+ * [[sincērō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[caerimonia]]

+ * [[caelum]]

+ * [[semel]]

+ * [[simplex]]

+ * [[en|sincere]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}