sic1
or sick
- to attack (used especially in commanding a dog): Sic 'em!
- to incite to attack (usually followed by on).
Origin of sic1
sick2
- sic1.
Related Words
promptpropelmotivategoadremindprovokespurstimulateurgedrawpersuadeinspireinduceconvinceindicateelicitarousesuggestcausehelpsick1
- inclined or likely to vomit
- suffering from ill health
- (as collective noun; preceded by the)the sick
- of, relating to, or used by people who are unwellsick benefits
- (in combination)sickroom
- deeply affected with a mental or spiritual feeling akin to physical sicknesssick at heart
- mentally, psychologically, or spiritually disturbed
- informal delighting in or catering for the macabre or sadistic; morbidsick humour
- Also: sick and tired (often foll by of) informal disgusted or weary, esp because satiatedI am sick of his everlasting laughter
- (often foll by for) weary with longing; piningI am sick for my own country
- pallid or sickly
- not in working order
- (of land) unfit for the adequate production of certain crops
- look sick slang to be outclassed
- an informal word for vomit
Word Origin
sick2
- a variant spelling of sic 2
sic1
- so or thus: inserted in brackets in a written or printed text to indicate that an odd or questionable reading is what was actually written or printed
Word Origin
sic2
- to turn on or attack: used only in commands, as to a dog
- to urge (a dog) to attack
Word Origin
sic3
- a Scot word for such
Word Origin and History for sicced
sic
adv.
insertion in printed quotation to call attention to error in the original; Latin, literally "so, thus, in this way," related to or emphatic of si "if," from PIE root *so- "this, that" (cf. Old English sio "she"). Used regularly in English articles from 1876, perhaps by influence of similar use in French (1872).
[I]t amounts to Yes, he did say that, or Yes, I do mean that, in spite of your natural doubts. It should be used only when doubt is natural; but reviewers & controversialists are tempted to pretend that it is, because (sic) provides them with a neat & compendious form of sneer. [Fowler]
Sic passim is "generally so throughout."
sick
v.
"to chase, set upon" (as in command sick him!), 1845, dialectal variant of seek. Used as an imperative to incite a dog to attack a person or animal; hence "cause to pursue." Related: Sicked; sicking.
sick
adj.
"unwell," Old English seoc "ill, diseased, feeble, weak; corrupt; sad, troubled, deeply affected," from Proto-Germanic *seukaz, of uncertain origin. The general Germanic word (cf. Old Norse sjukr, Danish syg, Old Saxon siok, Old Frisian siak, Middle Dutch siec, Dutch ziek, Old High German sioh, Gothic siuks "sick, ill"), but in German and Dutch displaced by krank "weak, slim," probably originally with a sense of "twisted, bent" (see crank (n.)).
Restricted meaning "having an inclination to vomit, affected with nausea" is from 1610s; sense of "tired or weary (of something), disgusted from satiety" is from 1590s; phrase sick and tired of is attested from 1783. Meaning "mentally twisted" in modern colloquial use is from 1955, a revival of the word in this sense from 1550s (sense of "spiritually or morally corrupt" was in Old English, which also had seocmod "infirm of mind"); sick joke is from 1958.
sick
n.
"those who are sick," Old English seoce, from sick (adj).
sic
v.
"to set upon, attack;" see sick (v.).
sick
(sĭk)- Suffering from or affected with a disease or disorder.
- Of or for sick persons.
- Nauseated.
- Mentally ill or disturbed.
- Constituting an unhealthy environment for those working or residing within, as of a building.
sic
A Latin word for “thus,” used to indicate that an apparent error is part of quoted material and not an editorial mistake: “The learned geographer asserts that ‘the capital of the United States is Washingtown [sic].’”
Idioms and Phrases with sicced
sick
In addition to the idioms beginning with sick
- sick and tired
- sick as a dog
- sick at heart
- sick in bed
- sick joke
- sick to one's stomach
also see:
- call in sick
- get sick
- make one sick
- worried sick