sibilus

Latin

Etymology

An onomatopoeic formation, with similar words in various branches of Indo-European.[1] Gamkrelidze and Ivanov derive the word from Proto-Indo-European *sweysd- (“to hiss”); if so, then related to Welsh chwythu (“to play instrument, blow”), Old Irish setim (“to blow”), Polish gwizdać (“to whistle”), Old Church Slavonic свистати (svistati, “to whistle”), Russian свисте́ть (svistétʹ, “to whistle”), Sanskrit क्ष्वेडति (kṣveḍati, “to whisper, hum, buzz”), Hindi सीटी (sīṭī, “to whistle”), Proto-Germanic *sweglō (“flute”) and Proto-Germanic *sweglōną (“to play flute”) (compare Old High German swegala (“flute”) and Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌲𐌻𐍉𐌽 (swiglōn, “to play flute”)).[2]

Pronunciation

Noun

sībilus m (genitive sībilī); second declension

  1. a hissing, whistling
  2. a contemptuous hissing

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative sībilus sībilī
Genitive sībilī sībilōrum
Dative sībilō sībilīs
Accusative sībilum sībilōs
Ablative sībilō sībilīs
Vocative sībile sībilī

Derived terms

References
  • “sibilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “sibilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • sibilus 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 561
  2. Gamkrelidze, Th. V., Ivanov, V. V. (1995) Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans. A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture. Part I: The Text (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 80), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter
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