siccus

Latin

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Italic *siskʷos, 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.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsɪk.kʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsik.kus]

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.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	siccus	sicca	siccum		siccī	siccae	sicca
genitive	siccī	siccae	siccī		siccōrum	siccārum	siccōrum
dative	siccō	siccae	siccō		siccīs
accusative	siccum	siccam	siccum		siccōs	siccās	sicca
ablative	siccō	siccā	siccō		siccīs
vocative	sicce	sicca	siccum		siccī	siccae	sicca

Derived terms

• persiccus
• praesiccus
• semisiccus
• siccānus
• siccē
• siccificus
• siccitās
• siccō
• siccoculus
• siccum

Related terms

• assiccescō
• assiccō
• dēsiccō
• exsiccātiō
• exsiccātus
• exsiccescō
• exsiccō
• insiccābilis
• insiccātus
• perexsiccātus
• persiccātus
• praesiccō
• siccābilis
• siccāneus
• siccārius
• siccātiō
• siccātīvus
• siccātōrius
• siccescō

Descendants

• Aromanian: sec
• Asturian: secu
• Catalan: sec
• Corsican: seccu, siccu
• Franco-Provençal: sèc
• French: sec
  • → Dutch: sec
• Friulian: sec
• Guinea-Bissau Creole: seku
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Romagnol: sèc (Ravenna), sècc (Santarcangelo)
  • Ligurian: secco
• Italian: secco
• Kabuverdianu: seku
• Neapolitan: sicco
• Norman: sec
• Occitan: sec
• Old Galician-Portuguese: seco
  • Galician: seco
  • Portuguese: seco
• Papiamentu: seku
• → Proto-Brythonic: *sɨx
  • Old Breton: sech
    • Breton: sec'h
  • Middle Cornish: sech
    • Cornish: sygh
  • Old Welsh: sich
    • Middle Welsh: sych, sich
      • Welsh: sych
• 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.