Sikelos
/ˈsiː.kɛ.lɒs/noun
A Greek form of the name for a Sicel, an ancient inhabitant of Sicily.
Did you know?The name Sikelos is historically documented, but its deeper origin is uncertain; ancient authors even preserved competing legends about who the Sicels were and where they came from.
Etymological Timeline
Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age
Unknown
*Sikel-
“A proposed ancestral form behind the name of the Sicels; its original meaning is uncertain.”
7th–5th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
Σικελοί (Sikeloi)
“The Sicels, an ancient people associated chiefly with eastern and central Sicily.”
5th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
Σικελός (Sikelos)
“A Sicel; also an adjective meaning Sicel or Sicilian in certain contexts.”
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Latin
Sicelus / Siculus
“A Sicel or Sicilian; the Latin forms developed into the classical name of the island and its inhabitants.”
Medieval English
English
Sicil
“An older English form connected with Sicily.”
Modern English
English
Sicel / Sikelos
“Sicel is the conventional English ethnonym; Sikelos is a scholarly transliteration of the ancient Greek form.”