Etymograph

English

ti

Ti comes from Middle English si ‘seventh degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's…’, and goes back to Latin Sāncte Iohannēs ‘Saint John (the Baptist)’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CESāncte Iohannēs‘Saint John (the Baptist)’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500si‘seventh degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales’
  3. Englishtodayti

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CESāncte Iohannēs‘Saint John (the Baptist)’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500si‘seventh degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales’
  3. Englishtodayti

The story

Coined by English music educator Sarah Anna Glover in 1812 as an alteration of si for her solmization, made so that every note of solfège would begin with a different letter, from Middle English si (‘seventh degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales’), Italian si in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the initials of Latin Sāncte Iohannēs (‘Saint John (the Baptist)’) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

Linked words

through Middle English si ‘seventh degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's…’

si

Today it means

noun A syllable used in solfège to represent the seventh note of a major scale.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin Sāncte Iohannēs / ti

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