siccus

Latin

Etymology

    Probably from Proto-Italic *siskus with a shift in stem, from Proto-Indo-European *siskus (“dry”), presumably from *sek- (“to dry up”). Cognate with Ancient Greek ἰσχνός (iskhnós), Proto-Celtic *siskʷos, Lithuanian sèkti (“to lower oneself, sink, dry out”), Sanskrit असश्चुषी (asaścuṣī, “not drying up”), though the phonetic details are unclear.[1]

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    siccus (feminine sicca, neuter siccum, comparative siccior); first/second-declension adjective

    1. dry
      Synonym: āridus
      • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 4.498–499:
        quō simul ac vēnit, frēnātōs curribus anguēs
        iungit et aequoreās sicca pererrat aquās
        And as soon as she has arrived there, she harnesses the bridled serpents to [her] chariots, and wanders dry over the ocean waves.
        (See Ceres (mythology).)
    2. sober
    3. thirsty

    Declension

    First/second-declension adjective.

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Aromanian: sec
    • Asturian: secu
    • Catalan: sec
    • Corsican: seccu, siccu
    • Franco-Provençal: sèc
    • French: sec
    • Friulian: sec
    • Guinea-Bissau Creole: seku
    • Gallo-Italic:
    • Italian: secco
    • Kabuverdianu: seku
    • Neapolitan: sicco
    • Norman: sec
    • Occitan: sec
    • Old Galician-Portuguese: seco
    • Papiamentu: seku
    • → Proto-Brythonic: *sɨx
    • Romanian: sec
    • Romansh: setg, sitg
    • Sardinian: siccu
    • Sicilian: siccu
    • Spanish: seco
    • Venetan: seco
    • Walloon: setch

    References

    • “siccus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • “siccus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • "siccus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
    • “siccus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 562