sicilicus

English

Etymology 1

From Latin.

Noun

sicilicus (plural sicilici)

1. (Roman measurements) A unit of weight equal to one quarter of an uncia.
   • 1830, Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, volume 1, page 182:

     Both the pounds were therefore divided alike into 15 ores, that is, ounces; the ores into 4 skyllings, the sicilici of the Romans, and the skyllings into 4 pence by the Saxons, while the Danes used the mark of 20 skyllings, and the skylling of 2 mancuses.

   • 1859, Sir William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, page 1213:

     UNCIA (ὀγκία, οὐγκία, οὐγγία), the twelfth part of the As or Libra, is derived by Varro from unus, as being the unit of the divisions of the as (L. L. v. 171, Müller). It was subdivided into 2 semunciae, 3 duellae, 4 sicilici, 6 sextulae, 24 scrupula, and 144 siliquae.

Synonyms

• (Roman measurement): siclus

Etymology 2

From the Latin sicilicus, the diminutive form of sicilis (“sickle”), so named because of its falciformity.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sĭsĭʹlĭkəs, IPA^(key): /sɪˈsɪlɪkəs/

Noun

sicilicus (plural sicilici)

1. (Old Latin typography) A diacritic, resembling a 180°-rotated ‘C’ (i.e., being similar in appearance to ⟨ ᵓ ⟩), written atop a consonant to mark gemination, superseded in Classical Latin by doubling the letter representing the geminated consonant.
   • 1925, Sir John Edwin Sandys, A Companion to Latin Studies, 3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, page 743:

     It is stated by grammarians that a sicilicus or laterally inverted Ⅽ, Ↄ, was placed above a consonant which was to be regarded as a doubled letter.

See also

• sicilicus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Latin

Etymology

Diminutive from sīcīlis (“sickle”) +‎ -icus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /siːˈkiː.li.kus/, [s̠iːˈkiːlʲɪkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /siˈt͡ʃi.li.kus/, [siˈt͡ʃiːlikus]

Noun

sīcīlicus m (genitive sīcīlicī); second declension

1. a sicilicus (a unit of weight equal to one quarter of an uncia)
2. (by extension) any other units that are 1/48 of another unit of measurement
   1. one forty-eighth of a jugerum
   2. the forty-eight part of an hour
3. a quarter of an inch
4. (grammar) a comma
5. a sign designating the doubling of consonants

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	sīcīlicus	sīcīlicī
genitive	sīcīlicī	sīcīlicōrum
dative	sīcīlicō	sīcīlicīs
accusative	sīcīlicum	sīcīlicōs
ablative	sīcīlicō	sīcīlicīs
vocative	sīcīlice	sīcīlicī

Related terms

• sīcīlicula
• sīcīlimenta
• sīcīliō
• sīcīlis

Descendants

• English: sicilicus

References

• “sicilicus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sicilicus 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)
• sicilicus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “sicilicus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “sicilicus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin