sepia
English
Etymology
From Latin sēpia, from Ancient Greek σηπία (sēpía, “cuttlefish”), from σήψ (sḗps, “a kind of lizard, also a kind of serpent whose bite was alleged to cause putrefaction”). Compare Italian seppia.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsiːpiə/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -iːpiə
Noun
sepia (countable and uncountable, plural sepias)
- A dark brown pigment made from the secretions of the cuttlefish. [from 1820s]
- A dark, slightly reddish, brown colour.
- sepia:
- (by extension, countable) A sepia-coloured drawing or photograph.
- (archaic, countable) The cuttlefish. [from 16th c.]
Translations
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Adjective
sepia (comparative more sepia, superlative most sepia)
- (colour) Of a dark reddish-brown colour.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess:
- Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.
- 1985 — Lance Parkin, The Infinity Doctors, p 209
- Only now did he realise how few colours there had been at the end of the universe. The world had been sepia, drained of colour and light.
- 2021 July 14, “Modern Images”, in RAIL, number 935, page 37, photo caption:
- Dawn mist rolling off the adjacent North Downs creates a sepia effect over the river with no need for digital enhancement.
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Related terms
- sepian
- sepiolite
Translations
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See also
- black and white
- color
- cuttlefish
- ink sac
- Appendix:Colors
Anagrams
- Aspie, aspie, paise
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch sepia, via French or Italian from Latin sepia.
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Noun
sepia f or m (uncountable)
- cuttlefish
Synonyms
- (cuttlefish): zeekat
Noun
sepia n (uncountable)
- the color sepia
- a style of yellowish/brownish-and-black photography
Further reading
- van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “sepia”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
Latin
Etymology
From Ancient Greek σηπία (sēpía), often suggested to be from Ancient Greek σήπειν (sḗpein, “to make rotten”), but (per Beekes) could instead possibly a Pre-Greek word.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈseː.pi.a/, [ˈs̠eːpiä]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈse.pi.a/, [ˈsɛːpiä]
Noun
sēpia f (genitive sēpiae); first declension
- a cuttlefish
- the secretion of a cuttlefish used as ink
Declension
First-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | sēpia | sēpiae |
Genitive | sēpiae | sēpiārum |
Dative | sēpiae | sēpiīs |
Accusative | sēpiam | sēpiās |
Ablative | sēpiā | sēpiīs |
Vocative | sēpia | sēpiae |
Synonyms
- (cuttlefish): lōlīgō
Descendants
- Istriot:
- sipa ⇒ sipariola
- → Serbo-Croatian: sipa, сипа
- sipa ⇒ sipariola
- Italo-Romance:
- Italian: seppia
- Neapolitan: ceccia, seccia
- Sicilian: siccia
- Padanian:
- ⇒ Ligurian: sepieta
- Piedmontese: sepia
- Venetian: sepa
- Northern Gallo-Romance:
- French: seiche
- Occitano-Romance:
- Catalan: sípia, sépia ⇒ sepiera
- Old Occitan: sepia, sepcha
- Occitan: sépia (all dialects)
- Gascon: sipa
- Vivaro-Alpine: supia
- Occitan: sépia (all dialects)
- Ibero-Romance:
- ⇒ Asturian: chipirón
- → Spanish: chipirón
- >? Mozarabic:
- → Asturian: xibiones (augmentative, plural)
- → Old Portuguese:
- Galician: xiba
- Portuguese: siba
- → Spanish: jibia
- ⇒ Asturian: chipirón
- Borrowings:
- → English: sepia
- → Hungarian: szépia
- → Polish: sepia
- → Portuguese: sépia
- → Romanian: sepia, sepie
- → Russian: сепия (sepija)
- → Spanish: sepia
References
- “sepia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “sepia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- sepia 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)
- sepia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- “sepia”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia
- “sepia”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
- Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “sēpia”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 11: S–Si, page 478
- Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911), “sēpia”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 589
Polish
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin sēpia, from Ancient Greek σηπία (sēpía).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɛ.pja/
- Rhymes: -ɛpja
- Syllabification: se‧pia
Noun
sepia f
- cephalopod ink
- sepia (color)
- (photography) sepia toning
- cuttlefish
- Synonym: mątwa
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | sepia | sepie |
genitive | sepii | sepii/sepij (archaic) |
dative | sepii | sepiom |
accusative | sepię | sepie |
instrumental | sepią | sepiami |
locative | sepii | sepiach |
vocative | sepio | sepie |
Derived terms
- sepiowy
Further reading
- sepia in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- sepia in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Spanish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin sēpia. Doublet of sepia.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsepja/ [ˈse.pja]
- Rhymes: -epja
- Syllabification: se‧pia
Noun
sepia f (plural sepias)
- cuttlefish
- Synonyms: jibia, cachón, choco
- (photography) sepia.
Derived terms
- sepia faraón
Further reading
- “sepia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014