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criminosus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word criminosus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (crīmen)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cerno
Latin incerno
Latin crimen
French crime
Latin criminosus
Latin criminor
Latin criminatio
Latin criminalis
English criminal
Latin discerno
Latin certo
Latin certamen

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kriː.mɪˈnoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kri.miˈnɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

crīminōsus (feminine crīminōsa, neuter crīminōsum, superlative crīminōsissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin crīmen (“charge, accusation”) + -ōsus.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[4] who fears his gratitude to someone might be held against him, mihi criminosum esse.[5] Afranius has non sum tam criminosa quam tu, vipera, “I am not as slanderous as you, you viper”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Of people it is given to accusing and slandering, and of speeches accusatory: Cicero calls a man bitter, slanderous, a demagogue and a troublemaker.[5][2] It is also what reflects badly on someone, shameful: Cicero says Verres never thought it shameful to have a cargo ship built openly for him.[2] Columella uses it of what was a criminal offence for a senator, owning more than fifty iugera.[2] Gellius has it of a wife, guilty and vicious.[2] Cassiodorus uses it as a noun, “a guilty man”,[5][4] and in medieval Latin it is guilty or sinful, and as a noun a criminal or sinner.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of what can be held against someone.[5][4]
  • 1st century AD – Columella, of a criminal offence.[2][4]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius, of a guilty wife.[2][4]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus, “a guilty man”.[5][4]
  • Medieval Latin – Sinful; a sinner.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Accusatory, reproachful, slanderous.[2][5][1][7]
  2. Shameful, dishonouring; constituting a criminal offence.[2][1]
  3. Guilty, vicious;[2] (Medieval Latin) sinful.[6]

Noun

  1. (Late and Medieval Latin) A guilty man, a criminal; a sinner.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Criminosus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/criminosus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·