Etymograph

English

stillicide

Stillicide comes from Latin stillicidium ‘liquid falling drop by drop’, from Proto-Italic *kadō ‘to fall, sink’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱad-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱad-1‘to fall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱádeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kadō1‘to fall, sink’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadō1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstillicidium2‘liquid falling drop by drop’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1962stillicide2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin stillicidium
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English stillicide
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1962, Vladimir Nabokov: “Whatever in my field of vision dwelt – /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱad-Wiktionary, Latin stillicidium‘to fall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱádetiWiktionary, Latin stillicidiumreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kadōWiktionary, Latin stillicidium‘to fall, sink’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadōWiktionary, Latin stillicidium
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstillicidiumWiktionary, English stillicide‘liquid falling drop by drop’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1962stillicideWiktionary, English stillicide. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1962, Vladimir Nabokov: “Whatever in my field of vision dwelt – /…”

Linked words

through Latin cadō

case, chance, occasion, accident, incident, cheat, decay, casualty, incidence, coincide, cadence, decadent, cadaver, deciduous, occidental, recidivism, occident, 14 more

Today it means

noun Water falling in drops, especially in a row from the eaves of a roof, or from icicles or stalactites.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stillicide”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin stillicidium. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱad- / stillicide

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