genuinus1 innate, genuine
- Confidence
- Uncertain
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- Cicero
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Indo-European (*ǵenh₁-)
Pronunciation
Forms
genuīnus (feminine genuīna, neuter genuīnum); first/second-declension adjective[1]
Etymology
The OLD suggests it was formed from ingenuus “native, freeborn” on the analogy of adulterīnus “spurious”, and Etymonline also mentions that influence.[2][3] Wiktionary proposes a u-stem *genus from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”) with the suffix -īnus, comparing Sanskrit जनुस् (jánus, “birth”).[1] Lewis and Short and Köbler derive it from gignō “to beget”.[4][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Cicero speaks of native, home-grown virtues.[4][6] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[5]
Semantic evolution
It meant inborn, natural, innate, as Cicero's genuīnae virtūtēs, and native, as in Apuleius.[2][4] In Gellius it meant authentic, genuine.[2][6]
In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant innate, genuine, authentic.[7] In Medieval Latin it meant natural, inborn.[8] It survives in Italian genuino.[1] English genuine was borrowed in the 1590s, first meaning “natural, not acquired”.[3]
Timeline
- 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of innate virtues.[4][5]
- c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of authentic things.[2][5]
- 1590s – English genuine is recorded.[3]
Meanings
Adjective
genuinus2 molar
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- Cicero
Pronunciation
Forms
genuīnus m (genitive genuīnī); second declension; also adjective genuīnus dēns[2][6]
Etymology
The molar is named from gena “cheek” with the suffix -īnus: Festus explains them as the teeth that hang from the cheeks.[2][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Cicero, describing digestion, says the innermost teeth, called genuīnī, grind the food.[2][9]
Semantic evolution
Pliny the Elder uses it of the wisdom teeth that grow about the twentieth year, and Juvenal of mouldy bread that sets the molar working without letting it bite.[2][4] Persius' phrase genuīnum frangere in aliquō, “to break a molar on someone”, means to satirize him savagely, as Lucilius did.[2][9] Medieval writers kept it for the molar, and Aldhelm used it of the teeth of bears and of the vices.[10][5]
Timeline
- 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the back teeth.[2][5]
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of wisdom teeth.[2][4]
- 34–62 AD – Persius, genuīnum frangere.[2][9]
- 639–709 AD – Aldhelm, of the teeth of bears.[5][10]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Borrowed into
- English genuine
Cite this entry
“Genuinus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/genuinus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Last edited on . ·