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dementicus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word dementicus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Late Latin glossaries
Ultimate origin
Latin dēmēns
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin demens
Latin dementicus
From the same root
Latin dementio ← demens

Forms

dēmenticus, dēmentica, dēmenticum; first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēmēns (“out of one's mind, mad”) + -icus.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is known only from glossaries, which explain it as insanus and amenticus, “insane”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

A medieval glossary again equates it with insanus.[4] Conte gives Late Latin dementicus as the source of Italian dimentico.[5]

Timeline

  • Late Latin – Glossaries explain it as insanus and amenticus.[2][3][5]
  • Middle Ages – A medieval glossary explains it as insanus.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Late Latin) Insane, out of one's mind, mad.[2][4][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
Cite this entry

“Dementicus.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/dementicus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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