tettix

English

WOTD – 20 December 2016

Etymology

An early-20th-century drawing of a Cicada orni, a species of cicada found in Greece and other places

From Ancient Greek τέττιξ (téttix), or perhaps a modern Greek descendant thereof.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛtɪks/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tet‧tix

Noun

tettix (plural tettixes)

1. A cicada, especially in Greece.
   • 1776, Richard Chandler, “chapter LXXXII”, in Travels in Asia Minor: Or An Account of a Tour Made at the Expense of the Society of Dilettanti, 2nd edition, London: Sold by J[ames] Dodsley, J[ames] Robson, T[homas] Cadell, P[eter] Elmsley, and G. Robinson; Oxford: D. Prince, →OCLC, pages 276–277:

     [T]he Tettix or Cicada in the day time is extremely troubleſome. It is a brown inſect reſembling a chafer, with wings much longer than its body, and thin like thoſe of a fly. […] Dionyſius of Syracuſe ſignified his reſolution to burn and lay waſte the territory of a people, with whom he had a quarrel, when he ſaid, that, if they refuſed to comply with his demands, their Tettixes ſhould ſing on the ground.

   • 1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!: Six Stories, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN:

     [T]hat Greek waste silent but for the risp of the tettix and the wash of listless wind through the spare grass.

   • 1989, Helen King, “Tithonos and the Tettix”, in Thomas M. Falkner, Judith de Luce, editors, Old Age in Greek and Latin Literature (SUNY Series in Classical Studies), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 75:

     The woman who had lived on no food at all, however, recalls once more the insect into which Tithonos was transformed: the tettix, which was believed to exist without food or drink, or only on dew, or on dew and air.

Further reading

• Cicada on Wikipedia.Wikipedia