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eniteo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word eniteo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
170–c. 90 BC, Accius
Ultimate origin
Latin (niteō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin niteo
Latin eniteo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈnɪ.te.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈniː.te.o][1]

Forms

ēniteō (present infinitive ēnitēre); second conjugation, no perfect or supine stems[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + niteō (“to shine”).[2][1][3] De Vaan explains niteō as built on a participle *nitos “made bright”, but finds no known Indo-European root that fits its form and meaning.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Accius,[4] whose line on crops that shine forth Cicero quotes in the Tusculan Disputations.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is to shine forth, be bright: Catullus has myrtle shining with flowering twigs, Virgil a plain, and Gellius the sky clearing up again.[5] Figuratively it is used of a person or a quality that stands out: the Rhetorica ad Herennium speaks of being outstanding in every part of style.[2][5] The OLD files the perfect ⟨ēnituī⟩ under the inchoative ēnitēscō,[2] and the TLL does the same.[3] Church Latin glosses it to shine forth, gleam.[6]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of shining crops.[5][4][7]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of flowering myrtle.[5][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a shining plain.[5][7]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius of the sky clearing up.[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To shine forth, gleam, be bright.[2][5][1][6]
  2. (figurative) Of a person or quality, to be conspicuous or outstanding.[2][5][1]
  • interniteō
  • niteō
  • perniteō
  • praeniteō
  • reniteō
  • ēnitēscō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Eniteo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/eniteo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·