▪ I. sic, a. Sc. and north.
(sɪk)
α. (Chiefly Sc.) 5– sic (6 syc), 5–9 sick, 5–7, 9 sik (5 syk). β. (Chiefly north.) 5–7 syke (6 sayk, 7 syik), 5– sike.
[Reduced form of swik, swilk: see such a. The form sike may have arisen under the influence of slike a. The examples from early texts are probably due to the 15th century scribes.]
= such a.
1. In ordinary attributive use.
| α 1375 Barbour Bruce viii. 180 Sloppis..left he..of sic quantite, That fyffe hundir mycht sammyn ryde. 1424 Sc. Acts, Jas. I (1814) II. 6/1 At þai þat sik treis pertenys to [etc.]. c 1450 Holland Howlat 93 With sic courtassy as he couth, on kneis he fell. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 26 Pretendand the to wryte sic skaldit skrowis. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 5 The beimes of the Sone..in sik brichtnes. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 6 In his court..there is sick vprightnes. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. ii. (1699) 235 Together with sick witnesses as best knows the verity of the Premisses. 1721 Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 6 That store which Heav'n In sic abundance to their hands has giv'n. 1814 A. Wilson Loss o' the Pack, Sic cheeks! sic een! Sic smiling looks! were never, never seen. 1858 M. Porteous Souter Johnny 30 At sic change ye'll grow clean wud. |
| β c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xvi. (Magdalene) 166 Sike lufe til hyre had Ihesu swet. c 1400 26 Pol. Poems 125 Whether thy dayes, lord, be syke As mennys dayes, that dwellen here? 1480 Newcastle Merch. Vent. (Surtees) I. 3 Wppon payn of syke fin as shalbe thought reasonable. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb. 211 Sike fancies weren foolerie. 1589 Peele Eclogue Gratulatory 31 Sike verse, I tell thee, ought have a great vaunt. 1604 Urie Court-bk. (1892) 4 Fewaill..syik as petteis, turris, or haidder. 1665 R. Brathwait Comment Two Tales 82 Is it Love, a God's Name, or some sike giddy thing that girds you? 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Sike, such. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Sike.., such, similar. ‘Sike and sike like’,..all are alike in the matter. |
b. Used with numerals in comparisons, as by sic seven, seven times (more, better, etc.).
| c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 388, I meyn fer mar the tynsell off my men, Na for my selff, mycht I suffir sic ten. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxx. 22 In haly legendis haif I hard..Ma sanctis of bischoppis, nor freiris, be sic sevin. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 45, I beleue to haue ane better..be sic thre Nor is the auld. 1574 Sat. Poems Reform. xlii. 347 Quhais number..Is greiter..ȝea, be sic thre. |
2. Followed by a (or † ane).
| α 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 77 Thir twa..Quhilk suld succeid to sic a hycht. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 67, I wait na worthie harberie..to serue sic ane man. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. iii. 98 Think on, thairfoir, quhill ȝe haue sic ane cryme. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 65 The king commandes thame..to be present at sik a day. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 133 To answere to sic ane man, anent sic ane thing, or in sic ane cause, or to sic ane Breive. a 1724 in Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 8, I think my doghter winna gloom On sick a lad as ye. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 86 Buirdly chiels, and clever hizzies, Are bred in sic a way as this is. 1814 Scott Wav. xxix, I cannot enter into ony carnal transactions on sic a day. 1816 ― Old Mort. xxxv, De'il tak me if they mak sic a guse o' Cuddie. |
| β a 1400–50 Alexander (D.) 1968 With syke a soume for to seke a sawt vs to ȝelde. c 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1103 Herde ye euer syke another? 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 21 It would make a man mad to heare this fable-teller make syke a declaration. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 64 Sike a thing, such a thing. 1692 Sc. Presbyt. Eloq. (1738) 118 Do you remember how you put out sike a sweet Saint of mine? a 1718 Parnell Fairy Tale 118 Was never wight in sike a case. |
3. absol. Such person(s) or thing(s).
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxviii. (Adrian) 14 For-þi folk mony fundine ware, Þat for to sla sik wald nocht spare. a 1400–50 Alexander 4272 Sike as growis on þe gronde..þat we fede vs with in-fere. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 353 Perchance ye say, that Bruce he was none sik. 1561 Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 15 Sen we reid nane callit be God onlie, except sick as schew thair power geuin to thaim be Him. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 125 Bot sic as..willinglie sinnes agane, thay sinne aganis Christ. a 1724 in Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1729) 17, I hae na meikle, But sick's I hae ye's get a Pickle. 1825–1876 [see sic-like n.]. |
▪ II. ‖ sic, adv. (and n.)
[L. sic so, thus.]
A parenthetical insertion used in printing quotations or reported utterances to call attention to something anomalous or erroneous in the original, or to guard against the supposition of misquotation. Also as n., an instance of ‘sic’.
| 1887 Sweet Second Anglo-Sax. Reader Pref., A prefixed star calls attention to an erroneous or anomalous form, being thus equivalent to ‘sic’. 1910 [used s.v. sic v.]. 1937 Scrutiny Sept. 131 As for what Miss Lynch calls ‘his really serious affair with Harriet’ (I feel this deserves a sic), it is purely theatrical. 1963 J. Mitford Amer. Way Death ii. 27, I do not like repeated use of sic... The reader who is fastidious about usage will hereafter have to supply his own sics. 1973 E. Taylor Serpent under It (1974) xiv. 224 He called the librarian..and asked him to check... Hence the ‘sic’. |
Hence sic v., to mark with a ‘sic’. nonce-wd.
| 1889 Bax Ethics Socialism (1902) 94 The modern reviewer's taste is not really shocked by half the things he sics or otherwise castigates. |
▪ III. sic
obs. or dial. form of sike.
▪ IV. sic
var. sick v.2