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arrogantia

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word arrogantia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin rogō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin arrogantia
English arrogance

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ar.rɔˈɡan.ti.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ar.roˈɡan.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

arrogantia f (genitive arrogantiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin arrogāns + -ia,[2][3] the present participle of arrogō (“to claim for oneself”).[4][5] It is also spelled ⟨adrogantia⟩.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it for presumption and conceit, saying that every kind of arrogance is hateful, that of talent and eloquence most of all.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The OLD separates haughtiness, insolence and conceit from presumption, the claim to more than is one's due.[2] Livy and Tacitus use it for the proud bearing of the powerful, and Tacitus lists greed and arrogantia as the chief vices of the stronger.[3] Wiktionary also gives the sense obstinacy.[1]

The Vulgate uses it for pride and presumption,[3] and it remained the Ecclesiastical Latin word for presumption and arrogance.[6] English arrogance came from it through Old French.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for presumption and conceit.[3][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it for haughtiness matched by obstinacy.[3][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus names arrogantia among the vices of the powerful.[3][5]
  • c. 1300 – English arrogance is borrowed from Old French.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Haughtiness, insolence, arrogance, conceit.[2][3]
  2. Presumption, claiming more than one's due.[2][3][6]
  3. Obstinacy, stubbornness.[1]

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes superbia, which looks down on others as inferior, from arrogantia, which wants others to acknowledge its own merits or privileges and is the opposite of modesty.[7] L&S also list insolentia and fastus2 among its synonyms.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Arrogantia.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/arrogantia. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·