Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

cedilla

cedilla (se*dil"lȧ) , noun

[Sp. cedilla, compare French cédille; dim. of zeta, the Greek name of the letter z, because this letter was formerly written after the c, to give it the sound of s.]

A mark placed under the letter c [thus, c], to show that it is to be sounded like s, as in facade.