ignitus

Forms

ignītus (feminine ignīta, neuter ignītum, comparative ignītior, superlative ignītissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ignis (“fire”) + -ītus,^[1][3] an adjective of the same kind as those in -ītus formed from nouns.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first instance is in Cicero, in a phrase about a “fiery liquid” that Servius quotes in his commentary on the Aeneid.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word meant fiery or glowing, of the upper air, of a star, of stones and of a wine of hot nature, which Gellius calls ignitius, “more fiery”.^[2][4][5] It was also used figuratively of what is ardent or vivid.^[4][5][3]

In Christian Latin it meant tried or refined by fire, purified,^[6] and in Medieval Latin it meant red-hot and, figuratively, ardent and fervent.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a fiery liquid, as Servius quotes him.^[2][4][8]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius calls the upper air fiery.^[2][5][8]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses the comparative of a wine of fiery nature.^[2][4][8]
• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it of stones.^[2][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Containing fire; fiery, glowing.^[1][2][5]
2. (figurative) Ardent, vivid.^[4][5][3]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Tried by fire, refined, purified.^[6]
4. (Medieval Latin) Red-hot; ardent, fervent.^[7]

Usage notes

Georges and Gaffiot also list ignītus as the perfect participle of igniō, “to set on fire”.^[2][4] Georges and Gaffiot have, besides, an adverb ignitus, “by fire”, in a letter of Cassiodorus, where Mommsen reads imitus.^[2][4]

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 e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de