Sicel

English

Etymology

From Latin Siculi, from Ancient Greek Σικελός (Sikelós). See also Sicily.

Greek historians including Thucydides suggested Siculus, a legendary king and son of Italus, as the progenitor of the Sicels.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪsəl/, /ˈsɪkəl/

Noun

Sicel (plural Sicels)

1. (historical) A member of an Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age.

Synonyms

• Siculi (plural only)
• Siculian

Proper noun

Sicel (uncountable)

1. (linguistics) The unclassified, sparsely attested language of the Sicels.

   Synonym: Siculian

   • 2010, Philip Baldi, The Foundations of Latin, Walter de Gruyter (Mouton de Gruyter) page 116,

     Their language, Sicel or Siculan, is considered by most scholars to be an independent IE language whose deeper connections with Italic are poorly demonstrated.

   • 2010, Benjamin W. Fortson, IV, Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, page 469:

     In Sicily were spoken at least two languages during the first millennium BC that are widely thought to have been Indo-European. The first, Sicel (or Siculian), was spoken by the Siculians in eastern Sicily.

   • 2012, Oliver Simkin, “Coins and language in ancient Sicily”, in Olga Tribulato, editor, Language and Linguistic Contact in Ancient Sicily, Cambridge University Press, page 170:

     Although the contribution of the Sicel language to coin inscriptions is not great, there is another case where Sicel is often invoked, and which unusually is not a proper name.

Anagrams

• -sicle, Celis, ILECs, Leics, Slice, ceils, ciels, clies, sicle, slice