noun · femininefirst declension
sentīna
sentīna f (genitive sentīnae)
Classical[sɛnˈtiː.na]Ecclesiastical[senˈtiː.na]
Meaning
- bilgewater in the hold of a ship
- figurativelythe dregs, scum, or rabble of the population
Nam sī tē interficī iusserō, residēbit in rē pūblicā reliqua coniūrātōrum manūs; sīn tū, quod tē iam dūdum hortor, exieris, exhauriētur ex urbe tuōrum comitum magna et perniciōsa sentīna reī pūblicae.
For if I order you to be killed, the residue [of your] band of conspirators remain in the republic; but, as I have been urging you to do for a long time now, if you depart, [then] your companions — [those] awful and dangerous dregs of the republic — will be drained out from the city.63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.12
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | sentīna | sentīnae |
| genitive | sentīnae | sentīnārum |
| dative | sentīnae | sentīnīs |
| accusative | sentīnam | sentīnās |
| ablative | sentīnā | sentīnīs |
| vocative | sentīna | sentīnae |
sentīna, ae, f.
I. Lit., the filthy water that collects in the bottom of a ship, bilgewater:
cum alii malos scandant, alii per foros cursent, alii sentinam exhauriant, Cic. Sen. 6, 17; * Caes. B. C. 3, 28: in nave, quae sentinam trahit, Sen. Ep. 30, 2: pisces sentinae navium odorem procul fugiunt, Plin. 10, 70, 90, § 194 al.; Gell. 19, 1, 3: mersamque vitiis suis, quasi sentinā, rempublicam pessum dedere, Flor. 3, 12, 7. —II. Transf., the bottom of a ship where the bilge-water is, the hold:
hi Romam sicuti in sentinam confluxerant, Sall. C. 37, 5: sedebamus in puppi et clavum tenebamus; nunc autem vix est in sentinā locus, Cic. Fam. 9, 15, 3.—III. Trop.
1. The lowest of the people, the dregs, refuse, rabble of a state or city (good prose; cf.
faex): si tu exieris, exhaurietur ex urbe tuorum comitum magna et perniciosa sentina rei publicae, Cic. Cat. 1, 5, 12; 2, 4, 7 (cf. Quint. 8, 6, 15); id. Att. 1, 19, 4; id. Agr. 2, 26, 70; Liv. 24, 29, 3; Flor. 3, 1, 4.—2. The hangerson of an army, camp-followers, Val. Max. 2, 7, 1.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
sentīna ae, f
bilge-water: sentinam exhaurire: conflictati sentinae vitiis, Cs.—A receptacle of bilge-water, hold, cesspool: Romam sicut in sentinam confluere, S.—Fig., dregs, refuse, offscourings, rabble: rei p.: urbis: quasi de aliquā sentinā, ac non de optimorum civium genere loqueretur.
Origins
From Proto-Italic *semtīna, from Proto-Indo-European *semH- (“to scoop”). Cognate with Proto-Celtic *semeti (“to pour”) (compare Middle Welsh gwehynnu (“to pour”), Old Breton douohinnom (“drained”)), Lithuanian sémti (“to pump, scoop”), and possibly Ancient Greek ἀμάομαι (amáomai, “to draw (milk)”). Compare also Ancient Greek ἀντλία (antlía), ἄντλος (ántlos, “bilgewater”).
Descendants
- Catalansentina
- Italiansentina
- Portuguesesentina
- Spanishsentina
- Siciliansintina