supercilium
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin supercilium (“eyebrow; brow, ridge; pride, arrogance”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌs(j)uː.pəˈsɪl.i.əm/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌsu.pɚˈsɪl.i.əm/
- Rhymes: -ɪliəm
Noun
supercilium (plural supercilia)
- (anatomy, rare) The eyebrow (arch of hair above each eye).
- The region of the eyebrows.
- (anatomy) The overhanging margin of a bony cavity (as of the acetabulum).
- (zoology) A superciliary marking or structure, especially in a bird.
- (architecture, classical) The narrow fillet above the cymatium of a cornice.
- A fillet above and below the scotia of an Attic base.
- The lintel or transverse part of a door frame.
- (rare, humorous) Superciliousness, haughtiness; an instance of this, a supercilious demeanor.
Translations
arch of hair — see eyebrow
region of the eyebrows
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References
- “supercilium”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “supercilium”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Latin
Etymology
From super- (“above, over”) + cilium (“an eyelid”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /su.perˈki.li.um/, [s̠ʊpɛrˈkɪlʲiʊ̃ˑ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /su.perˈt͡ʃi.li.um/, [superˈt͡ʃiːlium]
Noun
supercilium n (genitive superciliī or supercilī); second declension
- (anatomy, usually in the plural) The eyebrow.
- The prominent part of a thing, the brow, ridge, summit.
- The nod, the will.
- Pride, haughtiness, arrogance, sternness, superciliousness.
Inflection
Second-declension noun (neuter).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | supercilium | supercilia |
| Genitive | superciliī supercilī1 | superciliōrum |
| Dative | superciliō | superciliīs |
| Accusative | supercilium | supercilia |
| Ablative | superciliō | superciliīs |
| Vocative | supercilium | supercilia |
1Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).
Descendants
Descendants of supercilium in other languages
- → English: supercilium
- Aromanian: sprindzeanã
- Catalan: sobrecella
- Corsican: sopracigliu
- French: sourcil
- Friulian: sorecee
- Galician: sobrecella
- Italian: sopracciglio
- Norman: soucile
- Occitan: subrecilha
- Portuguese: sobrancelha, supercílio
- Romanian: sprânceană
- Romansch: survantscheglia
- Sicilian: supraccigghiu
- Spanish: sobreceja, sobrecejo
References
- “supercilium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “supercilium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- supercilium 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)
- supercilium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette