sic

See also: SIC, siç, sić, šić, and šič

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪk/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪk
• Homophones: sick, Sikh (one pronunciation)

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin sīc (“thus, so”).

Adverb

sic (not comparable)

1. Thus; as written; used to indicate, for example, that text is being quoted as it is from the source.
   • 1909 January 28, H. E. Wilkie Young, “Notes on the City of Mosul” (despatch No. 4), in Foreign Office, volume 195, number 2308; quoted in Elie Khadouri[e], “Mosul in 1909”, in Middle Eastern Studies‎^[1], volume 7, number 2, 1971, →JSTOR, page 229:

     When it is all over they merge and go in a body to visit [...] the Telegraph Office – with plausible expressions of regret and excuses for the mob ‘which’ they say ‘is deplorably ignorant and will not be restrained when its feelings are strongly moved’ – sic, the fact being that the mob’s feelings will never be ‘moved’ unless it is by one of them.

   • 2003, Monika Fludernik, The Fictions of Language and the Languages of Fiction, Routledge, →ISBN, page 468:

     Bolinger, Dwight (1977) ‘Pronoun and repeated nouns.’ Lingua18:1-34 [Quoted sic in Toolan 1990. Neither in Lingua 18, nor in the 1977 volume of that journal.]

   • 2006, Christina Scull with Wayne G. Hammond, JRR Tolkien companion & guide, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN:

     Joseph Wright, his predecessor in the chair, called him ‘a firstrate Scholar and a kind of man who will easily make friends’ at Oxford (quoted, sic, in E.M. Wright, The Life of Joseph Wright (1932), p. 483).

   • 2010, Paul Booth, Digital Fandom: New Media Studies, Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 127:

     Jim’s Interests: General: Working out, hanging out at the local bars, expanding my mind, eating Tuna Sandwhiches...or so I’m told and poker... Television: ... this show that’s on Thuresday nights at 8 :30pm... I can’t place the name of it but it has this crazy interview style thing...[all sic]

   • 2012, Milton J. Bates, The Bark River Chronicles: Stories from a Wisconsin Watershed, Wisconsin Historical Society, →ISBN, page 271:

     whole bussiness: Quoted sic in George F. Willison, Saints and Strangers (New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1945)

2. (by extension) Used in the manner of scare quotes
   • 1979 December 29, Vern Hall-Smith, “Fundamentalists March”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 23, page 5:

     In the past few months, we in Upstate N.Y. have been subjected to fire bombings, firings, verbal and physical harassment, etc. The list goes on and on. These (sic) Christians are calling for a million marchers and may very well get that many.

Usage notes

Sic is frequently used to indicate that an error or apparent error of spelling, grammar, or logic has been quoted faithfully; for instance, quoting the U.S. Constitution:

The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker ...

Sic is often set off from surrounding text by parentheses or brackets, which sometimes enclose additional notes, as:

• 1884, James Grant, Cassell’s old and new Edinburgh, page 99:

  This I may say of her, to which all that saw her will bear record, that her only countenance moved [sic, meaning that its expression alone was touching], although she had not spoken a word […]

Because it is not an abbreviation, it does not require a following period.

Related terms

• sic pro (used to note the error and supply the supposed intended phrasing)
• sic passim (used to indicate that the preceding word, phrase, or term is used in the same manner (or form) throughout the remainder of a text)
• sic transit gloria mundi (fame is temporary; lit. “so passes the glory of the world”)
• sic semper tyrannis (“thus always to tyrants”, and shouted by John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln)

Translations

thus, thus written

• Arabic: كَذَا (kaḏā)
• Belarusian: так (tak)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 原文如此 (yuánwén rúcǐ)

• Dutch: sic (nl)
• Finnish: siten (fi), juuri näin, sic (fi)
• French: sic (fr)
• German: sic (de), so (de)
• Greek: αυτολεξεί (el) (aftolexeí)
• Italian: sic (it)
• Japanese: 儘 (ja) (mama)
• Korean: 원문대로 (wonmundaero)
• Persian: کذا (fa) (kazâ)
• Portuguese: sic (pt)
• Russian: так (ru) (tak)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тако

  Roman: tako (sh)

• Spanish: sic (es)
• Swedish: sic (sv), så (sv)
• Ukrainian: так (uk) (tak)

Verb

sic (third-person singular simple present sics, present participle siccing, simple past and past participle sicced)

1. To mark with a bracketed sic.
   • 1887 May 7, E. Belfort Bax, “On Some Forms of Modern Cant”, in Commonweal‎^[2]:

     The fact is, of course, that the modern reviewer’s taste is not really shocked by half the things he sics or otherwise castigates, but he must find something to say and above all make a slow of purism.

Etymology 2

Variant of seek.

Alternative forms

• sick
• sicc

Verb

sic (third-person singular simple present sics, present participle siccing, simple past and past participle sicced)

1. (transitive) To incite an attack by, especially a dog or dogs.

   He sicced his dog on me!

   • 1992, Bruce Sterling, The Hacker Crackdown‎^[3], →ISBN:

     Phreaks can max-out 911 systems just by siccing a bunch of computer-modems on them in tandem, dialling them over and over until they clog.

   • 2019, Brian Merchant, “Click Here to Kill: The dark world of online murder markets”, in Harper’s Magazine‎^[4], volume 2020, number January:

     I was interviewing the victims of a harebrained scheme to sic contract killers on an innocent woman

2. (transitive) To set upon; to chase; to attack.

   Sic ’em, Mitzi.

Usage notes

• The sense of “set upon” is most commonly used as an imperative, in a command to an animal.

Translations

incite an attack by

• Catalan: aquissar (ca), acanissar (ca), abordar (ca), abuixar (ca), abornar (ca), amussar (ca)
• Dutch: zetten (nl), aanzetten (nl), opjutten (nl)
• Finnish: usuttaa (fi)
• German: hetzen (de)
• Icelandic: siga (is), etja
• Kurdish:

  Southern Kurdish: ھِشکەدان (hişkedan)

• Navajo: bichʼįʼ yishʼá
• Polish: szczuć (pl) impf, poszczuć pf, napuszczać impf, napuścić pf
• Russian: нау́ськивать (ru) n (naúsʹkivatʹ), натра́вливать (ru) impf (natrávlivatʹ), натрави́ть (ru) pf (natravítʹ)
• Spanish: azuzar (es), achuchar (es), jalear (es), aupar (es), ajotar (es), ahotar (es) (dated), huchear (es), largar(le los perros), echar(le los perros), chumbar (es) (River Plate)
• Turkish: (üzerine) salmak (tr), saldırtmak

to chase; to attack; to set upon

• Dutch: pakken (nl)
• German: fassen (de)
• Navajo: bichʼįʼ dah diilyeed
• Russian: спуска́ть (ru) impf (spuskátʹ) (кого-л.)

See also

• sic bo (etymologically unrelated)

Anagrams

• -ics, CIS, CIs, CSI, ICS, ICs, I²Cs, SCI, Sci., cis, cis-, sci, sci.

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin sīc (“thus, so”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

sic

1. sic (thus)

Usage notes

Sic is frequently used to indicate that an error or apparent error of spelling, grammar, or logic has been quoted faithfully. In Flanders, it is also used to quote derogatory terms in a formal context.

‘Ik heb begrepen dat ik “geoordeeld” (sic) zal worden door de geschiedenis, ik veronderstel dat we dat allemaal ooit zullen ondergaan.’ - French-speaking journalist Alexandre Penasse is quoted by newspaper De Standaard making a mistake against the Dutch language, as it is clear from the context that he meant “veroordeeld”. 19/02/2022.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sīc (“thus, so”). Doublet of si.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sik/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

sic

1. sic (thus)

Usage notes

Same usage notes as in English apply.

Further reading

• “sic”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Alternative forms

• sīce (non-apocopated)
• seic (standard in Republican spelling)
• seice

Etymology

Regular apocope of sīce, from sī +‎ -ce, from Proto-Indo-European *só (“this, that”) and Proto-Indo-European *ḱe- (“demonstrative particle”). See also components for cognates.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /siːk/, [s̠iːk]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /sik/, [sik]

Adverb

sīc (not comparable)

1. yes, indeed (If answering a question)
2. thus, so, like this, in this way
   • c. 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.13:

     Ut ager, quamvīs fertilis, sine cultūrā frūctuōsus esse nōn potest, sīc sine doctrīnā animus.

     Just as the field, however fertile, without cultivation cannot be fruitful, likewise the soul without education.

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.660:

     “Sīc, sīc iuvat īre sub umbrās.”

     “Thus, in this way it pleases me to pass beneath the shadows.”
     (Dido’s final words include the doubly emphatic “sic, sic”; translations vary. Servius the Grammarian, in his Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil, understood it as the moment Dido falls upon the sword of Aeneas.)

   1. as stated or as follows, to this effect
   2. (as a correlative to ut, quōmodo etc.)
   3. (with restrictive or conditional force, also with ut or nē)
   4. in such a (good or bad) way, like that, so much

Synonyms

• ita
• hōc modō
• ad hunc modum
• in hunc modum
• adeō
• tam
• tantopere

Derived terms

• sīc quia
• ac sīc
• *eccum sīc

Derived terms

• sīcin(e) (“intensified interrogative sīc”)
• sīcut(i) (“as”)
• sīc trānsit glōria mundī
• sīc semper tyrannīs
• ut sīc dīcam (“so to speak”)

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative/ relative	indefinite					negative	other
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	indefinite	free choice	universal	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste, istic	ille, illic	is	ipse, īdem	quis/quī	quisquis, quīcumque	quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quispiam	quīvis, quīlibet	quisque	quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam	nēmō, nihil, nūllus	alius
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs, uterlibet	uterque		neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubiubi, ubī̆cumque	alicubī, uspiam	ubivīs, ubilibet	ubīque	usquam	nusquam, nūllibī	alibī, aliās
source	hinc	istinc	illinc	inde	indidem	unde	undecumque, undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique			aliunde
destination	hūc, °hōrsum	istūc, °istōrsum	illūc, °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō, quōrsum	quōquō, quōcumque	aliquō, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs, quōlibet		quōquam	nusquam, nūllōrsum	aliō, aliōrsum
method, means, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	quā	quāquā, quācumque	aliquā	quāvīs, quālibet	quāque		nēquāquam, haudquāquam	aliā
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita, sīc, eō modō	item, itidem	ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum	utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque	quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque	ūllō modō	nūllō modō	aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō
time	num, nunc		ōlim	tum, tunc	simul	quandō, ‡cum	cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque	quondam, aliquandō	quandōlibet	quandōque	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen, †tandem	quam	†quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs, quamlibet
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque	aliquantus	quantusvīs, quantuslibet
quality				tālis		quālis	quālis, quāliscumque	aliquālis	quālislibet
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot, quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order				totus		quotus	quotuscumque	aliquotus	quotuslibet
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet
multiplication				totuplex		quotuplex
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated ° Rare ‡only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative

Descendants

• Aromanian: shi
• Asturian: sí
• Catalan: sí
• Corsican: sì
• Dalmatian: sai
• Franco-Provençal: si, -se (in asse, ense)
• French: si
• Friulian: sì
• Galician: si
• Italian: sì
• Megleno-Romanian: și
• Portuguese: sim
• Romanian: și
• Romansch: schi
• Sicilian: sì, se
• Spanish: sí
• → English: sic

References

• “sic”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sic”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sic in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[5], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • that is the way of the world; such is life: sic vita hominum est
    
  • the facts are these; the matter stands thus: res ita est, ita (sic) se habet
    
  • convince yourself of this; rest assured on this point: sic habeto
    
  • convince yourself of this; rest assured on this point: sic volo te tibi persuadere
    
  • to represent a thing dramatically: sic exponere aliquid, quasi agatur res (non quasi narretur)
    
  • anger is defined as a passionate desire for revenge: iracundiam sic (ita) definiunt, ut ulciscendi libidinem esse dicant or ut u. libido sit or iracundiam sic definiunt, ulc. libidinem
    
  • I felt quite at home in his house: apud eum sic fui tamquam domi meae (Fam. 13. 69)
    
• sic in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[6], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sīk, from Proto-Germanic *sīką.

Noun

sīċ m or n

1. a watercourse, stream

Descendants

• Middle English: sych, syk, syke
  • English: sitch, sike
  • Scots: sike, syke

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “síc”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[7], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ki/, /ˈsik/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ki/, /ˈsik/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsik/, /ˈsi.ki/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsik/

• Hyphenation: sic

Adverb

sic (not comparable)

1. sic (used to indicate that a quoted word has been transcribed exactly as found in the source text)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sic.

Adverb

sic

1. sic

Scots

Alternative forms

• sich

Etymology

From Middle English sich, from Old English swelc.

Adjective

sic (not comparable)

1. such
   • 1869, Robert Burns, “The Tree of Liberty”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, volume III (Posthumous Poems), Kilmarnock, Scotland: […] James M‘Kie, →OCLC, page 360:

     I'd gie my ſhoon frae aff my feet, / To taſte ſic fruit, I ſwear, man. / Syne let us pray, auld England may / Sure plant this far-famed tree, man; / And blythe we'll ſing, and hail the day / That gave us liberty, man.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Pronoun

sic

1. such

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• zȉc

Etymology

From Upper German Sitz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sît͡s/

Noun

sȉc m (Cyrillic spelling си̏ц)

1. (dialectal) seat (of a vehicle)

   Synonym: sjȅdalo

Further reading

• “sic”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsik/ [ˈsik]
• Rhymes: -ik
• Syllabification: sic

Adverb

sic

1. sic (thus; as written)

Further reading

• “sic”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Anagrams

• cis, cis-