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)

1. (anatomy, rare) The eyebrow (arch of hair above each eye).
   1. The region of the eyebrows.
   2. (anatomy) The overhanging margin of a bony cavity (as of the acetabulum).
   3. (zoology) A superciliary marking or structure, especially in a bird.
2. (architecture, classical) The narrow fillet above the cymatium of a cornice.
   1. A fillet above and below the scotia of an Attic base.
   2. The lintel or transverse part of a door frame.
3. (rare, humorous) Superciliousness, haughtiness; an instance of this, a supercilious demeanor.

Translations

arch of hair — see eyebrow

region of the eyebrows

• Finnish: silmäkulma (fi)

References

• “supercilium”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “supercilium”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Etymology

From super- (“above, over”) +‎ cilium (“an eyelid”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /su.perˈki.li.um/, [s̠ʊpɛrˈkɪlʲiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /su.perˈt͡ʃi.li.um/, [superˈt͡ʃiːlium]

Noun

supercilium n (genitive superciliī or supercilī); second declension

1. (anatomy, usually in the plural) The eyebrow.
   1. The prominent part of a thing, the brow, ridge, summit.
2. The nod, the will.
3. 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

• Aromanian: sprindzeanã
• Catalan: sobrecella
• Corsican: sopracigliu
• French: sourcil
• Friulian: sorecee
• Italian: sopracciglio
• Norman: soucile
• Occitan: subrecilha
• Old Galician-Portuguese: sobrencelha, sobrancelha
  • Galician: sobrecella
  • Portuguese: sobrancelha
• Romanian: sprânceană
• Romansch: survantscheglia
• Sicilian: supraccigghiu
• Spanish: sobreceja, sobrecejo
• Borrowings:
  • → English: supercilium
  • → Portuguese: supercílio

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.