Link Centre Dictionary

Sabellian

sa·bel·lian

uncommon

noun

1.

an extinct Osco-Umbrian language of ancient Italy that survives only in a few inscriptions

Origin

From Latin Sabellus + -ian, pertaining to the Sabellī, an Italic tribe, from Proto-Italic *saβn- (whence also Samnium, Samnones, Sabus, Sabīnus), perhaps from an uncertain Proto-Indo-European root, sometimes identified with the reflexive pronoun *swé (“self”) for the assumed meaning “one's own” (compare Proto-Germanic *swēbaz for a similar etymology), but this is highly suspect on phonetic grounds.

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.