setius

Latin

Alternative forms

• secius, sequius, sectius (confusions with the comp. of secus)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *sētos (“late”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“late, long”). Cf. sērus, with a different extension. Cognate to Old Irish sith- (“continuous”), Welsh hyd (“length”), Gothic 𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌿𐍃 (seiþus, “late”), Old English sīd (“broad”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈseː.ti.ʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛt.t͡si.us]

Adverb

sētius (comparative, no positive form)

1. later, slower

   Synonyms: sērius, tardius

2. (with negatives) to a lesser degree, less readily

   Synonym: minus

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 3.366–367:

     stīriaque impexīs indūruit horrida barbīs,
     intereā tōtō nōn sētius āere ningit

     rough hoarfrost clings to their uncombed beards,
     while the whole sky keeps on shedding snow

3. (influenced by secus) otherwise

   Synonym: secus

Derived terms

• nihilō sētius (“none the less”)
• quō sētius (“so as to prevent”)

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: sezzo

References

• “sētius” on page 1929 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “sētius”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 559

Further reading

• “setius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “setius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “setius”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.