cippus

Meaning

1. (declension-2, masculine) stake, post
2. (declension-2, masculine) gravestone, tombstone
3. (declension-2, masculine) landmark, boundary marker
4. (declension-2, in-plural, masculine) bulwark of sharpened stakes
5. (declension-2, masculine) menhir

Concepts

stake

cippus

Translations

Grenzstein

cippe

cippo

cepo

Pronounced as (IPA)

[ˈkɪp.pʊs]

Etymology

Seemingly from a Proto-Italic *keipos (where Latin cīpus would be the older form), likely related to scīpiō, of unclear further origin. De Vaan derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱéypos (“pole, stick”), connecting it to Sanskrit शेप (śepa, “penis, tail”). However, the irregular alternation between the form with short ĭ and geminate pp versus that with long ī with singular p is difficult to explain; it could indicate contamination from another Italic dialect or borrowing from a substrate language, or it could be a normal Latin sound law seen also in littera from lītera. Not related to Latin scāpus, English shaft, Ancient Greek σκήπτω (skḗptō), despite some such suggestions.