sicilis

Latin

Etymology 1

From secō (“cut”, verb).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ki.lis/, [ˈs̠ɪkɪlʲɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.t͡ʃi.lis/, [ˈsiːt͡ʃilis]

Noun

sicilis f (genitive sicilis); third declension

1. sickle

   Synonym: secula

   • Gaius Plinius Secundus, Naturalis Historia 6.38:

     Inrumpit autem artis faucibus et in longitudinem spatiosis, atque ubi coepit in latitudinem pandi lunatis obliquatur cornibus, velut ad Maeotium lacum ab ore descendens, sicilis, ut auctor est M. Varro, similitudine.

     • 1942 translation by H. Rackham

       Its waters make their way into this sea by a narrow mouth of considerable length; and where it begins to widen out it curves obliquely with crescent-shaped horns, as though descending from the mouth to the Sea of Azov, in the likeness of a sickle, as Marcus Varro states.

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sicilis	sicilēs
Genitive	sicilis	sicilium
Dative	sicilī	sicilibus
Accusative	sicilem	sicilēs sicilīs
Ablative	sicile	sicilibus
Vocative	sicilis	sicilēs

Descendants

• Aromanian: seatsiri
• Romanian: secere
• Vulgar Latin: *sicila, *sicilāre (see there for further descendants)
• → Proto-West Germanic: *sikilu (see there for further descendants)

Etymology 2

From sīca +‎ -īlis.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /siːˈkiː.lis/, [s̠iːˈkiːlʲɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /siˈt͡ʃi.lis/, [siˈt͡ʃiːlis]

Noun

sīcīlis f (genitive sīcīlis); third declension

1. spearhead
   • 239 BCE – 169 BCE, Ennius, Annales 479, (fragment per Paul the Deacon's epitome of Festus, glossed there as "hastarum spicula lata"):

     i͞ncēdi͞t vēle͞s vo͞lgō sīcīlĭbŭs lātīs

     the skirmisher advances all over with broad/widespread spearheads

   • c. 177 CE, Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 10.25.2:

     Telorum iaculorum gladiorumque vocabula, quae in historiis veteribus scripta sunt, item navigiorum genera et nomina libitum forte nobis est sedentibus in reda conquirere, ne quid malarum ineptiarum vacantem stupentemque animum occuparet. Quae tum igitur suppetierant, haec sunt: hasta, pilum, phalarica, semiphalarica, soliferrea, gaesa, lancea, spari, rumices, trifaces, tragulae, frameae, mesanculae, cateiae, rumpiae, scorpii, sibones, siciles, veruta, enses, sicae, machaerae, spathae, lingulae, pugiones, clunacula.

     • 1927 translation by J. C. Rolfe

       Once upon a time, when I was riding in a carriage, to keep my mind from being dull and unoccupied and a prey to worthless trifles, it chanced to occur to me to try to recall the names of weapons, darts and swords which are found in the early histories, and also the various kinds of boats and their names. Those, then, of the former that came to mind at the time are the following: spear, pike, fire-pike, half-pike, iron bolt, Gallic spear, lance, hunting-darts, javelins, long bolts, barbed-javelins, German spears, thronged-javelin, Gallic bolt, broadswords, poisoned arrows, Illyrian hunting-spears, cimeters, darts, swords, daggers, broadswords, double-edged swords, smallswords, poniards, cleavers.

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sīcilis	sīcilēs
Genitive	sīcilis	sīcilium
Dative	sīcilī	sīcilibus
Accusative	sīcilem	sīcilēs sīcilīs
Ablative	sīcile	sīcilibus
Vocative	sīcilis	sīcilēs

Derived terms

• sīcīlicus

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “sĭcĭlis”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 11: S–Si, page 591

Further reading

• “sicilis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sicilis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• sicilis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “sicilis”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers