Etymologically
Log in

ignave

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

ignāvē (comparative ignāvius); adverb[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ignāvus (“lazy, spiritless”) + -ē.[1][3][4] Wiktionary analyses the adjective as in- (“not”) and gnāvus (“busy, diligent”).[5] Georges also records a by-form ⟨ignāviter⟩.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Cicero,[7][8] who in the Tusculan Disputations urges that nothing be done timidly or in a cowardly way, nē quid timidē, nē quid ignāvē.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Its senses follow those of the adjective: done without energy or spirit, sluggishly, and, of conduct in danger, in a cowardly way.[1][6][9] Horace applies it to style, of saying many things feebly,[7][6] and Virgil has the comparative, of cropping the tips of the grass more listlessly.[6][2] Seneca uses it of men who died like women and without resistance.[10] The form ignāviter appears in a fragment of Lucilius and in a letter of Hirtius to Cicero.[6]

Medieval writers kept the classical meaning: in Britain William of Malmesbury and John of Salisbury use it for feebly or without spirit,[11] and in Hungary it is glossed as timidly.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses the by-form ignāviter.[6][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero warns against acting in a cowardly way.[6][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses the comparative ignāvius.[6][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a feeble poetic style.[7][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Sluggishly, without energy or spirit, feebly.[1][2][8]
  2. In a cowardly way.[6][8][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
  3. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE