Etymologically
Log in

genuinus

This is an old revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 10:28. It may differ significantly from the current version. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Current version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɡɛ.nuˈiː.nʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [d͡ʒe.nuˈiː.nus][1]

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

  1. Inborn, natural, innate.[2]
  2. Native.[2]
  3. Authentic, genuine.[2]

Usage notes

A different genuīnus, from gena “cheek”, meant a back tooth, molar, as in Cicero and Juvenal.[2][4][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ 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