sicilicus

From the Latin sicilicus, the diminutive form of sicilis (“sickle”), so named because of its falciformity.

sicilicus (plural sicilici)

(Old Latin typography) A diacritic, resembling a 180°-rotated ‘C’ (i.e., being similar in appearance to ⟨ᵓ⟩), written atop a consonant to mark gemination, superseded in Classical Latin by doubling the letter representing the geminated consonant.
- 1925, Sir John Edwin Sandys, A Companion to Latin Studies, 3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, page 743:
  It is stated by grammarians that a sicilicus or laterally inverted Ⅽ, Ↄ, was placed above a consonant which was to be regarded as a doubled letter.
(Roman measurements) An unit of weight equal to one quarter of an uncia.
- 1830, Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, volume 1, page 182:
  Both the pounds were therefore divided alike into 15 ores, that is, ounces; the ores into 4 skyllings, the sicilici of the Romans, and the skyllings into 4 pence by the Saxons, while the Danes used the mark of 20 skyllings, and the skylling of 2 mancuses.
- 1859, Sir William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, page 1213:
  UNCIA (ὀγκία, οὐγκία, οὐγγία), the twelfth part of the As or Libra, is derived by Varro from unus, as being the unit of the divisions of the as (L. L. v. 171, Müller). It was subdivided into 2 semunciae, 3 duellae, 4 sicilici, 6 sextulae, 24 scrupula, and 144 siliquae.

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