Etymologically
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ignifer

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɪŋ.nɪ.fɛr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈiɲ.ɲi.fer][1]

Forms

ignifer (feminine ignifera, neuter igniferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)[1]

Etymology

It is a compound, from Latin ignis (“fire”) + -fer (“bearing”),[2][3][4] the second part being the ending of compounds formed from ferō (“to carry”),[5] which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-e/o- (“to carry”).[5] De Vaan traces ignis to Proto-Italic *n̥gʷni- (“fire”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥gʷ-ni- (“(a) fire”).[5] Cognate with Sanskrit अग्नि (agní-, “fire”) and Lithuanian ugnìs (“fire”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[6] whose translation of Aratus speaks of stroking the fire-bearing upper air with trembling wings.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic word, rare in prose.[3][7] Lucretius uses it of the fiery upper air, of lightning and of torches held in the hand;[7][2] Ovid of the fiery axle of the Sun's chariot, Martial and Valerius Flaccus of fire-breathing bulls, Statius of Etna and Apuleius of the Chimaera.[2][7] The land surveyor Hyginus mentions flints and igniferī lapidēs set in place.[2][6] Silius Italicus uses it figuratively of a fiery exhortation that drove minds to rage.[2][7]

Medieval poets keep the senses fire-bearing and made of fire,[8] and Alcuin uses the masculine as a noun for a bringer of light.[8][6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the upper air in his Aratus.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of torches and of lightning.[2][7][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the Sun's axle.[7][6]
  • 25–101 AD – Silius Italicus uses it figuratively of a fiery exhortation.[2][6]
  • second half of the 8th century – Alcuin uses it as a noun, “light-bringer”.[8][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Bearing or containing fire, fiery;[2][7][6] ignifer lapis, flint.[2][7][6]
  2. (figurative) Inflammatory, fiery.[2][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Made of fire.[8]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A bringer of light.[8][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften