Centesimus Octogesimus Septimus: November 19, 2009: Singultus
Theme for this month: Nerdy words
singultus, singultus, m.
Definition: hiccup! (in addition to its more common meaning, the act of catching the breath while sobbing, or sobs in the plural)
[the Latin definition as always comes from the Oxford Latin Dictionary]
Sententia: Celus De Medicina II.7.17
Frequens singultus et praeter consuetudinem continuus iecur inflammatum esse significat.
Frequent and continual, contrary to habit, hiccups marks that there is inflammation of the liver.
This work, unsurprisingly, is about medicine (and consequently is not actually a fact about hiccups). This sentence is found amongst a rather long paragraph of various symptoms and what they can mean.
I must admit that my definition of "nerdy words" has gotten looser and looser as the month has gone on: however, it's nerdy to be able to say "hiccup" (or "hiccough," to use the British spelling) in Latin, isn't it? So now, instead of saying "bless you" (hiccups are not a disease!) or laughing at each hiccup, it is possible to say "singultus" when someone hiccups! Etymologically, this word is very boring. The chief etymologists in Oxford do not know where it comes from (perhaps the Dictionnaire Etymologique de la Langue Latina would have it, though unfortunately I do not know French). If perchance you are interested, the article whence I got the word is: http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100249177>1=31036
PS: In case you do not know, the reason I am so interested in hiccups is that I get them every single time I eat (and sometimes when I drink water), though most often I let out merely a single high-pitched "hiiic." Having searched for a word since Latin 2, I am excited to have found it in singultus.
NB: Bold and underline == macron