ignominia

Forms

ignōminia f (genitive ignōminiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“not”) and nōmen (“name”) with the suffix -ia: the loss of one's good name.^[2][3][4] The ⟨g⟩ is that of cognōmen, introduced from cognōscō; inscriptions also have the spelling ⟨ingn-⟩.^[3][5] De Vaan traces ⟨nōmen⟩ to Proto-Italic *nōmn̥ and Proto-Indo-European *h₃neh₃-mn (“name”), cognate with Oscan 𐌍𐌖𐌌𐌍𐌄𐌉𐌔 (numneís), Ancient Greek ὄνομα (ónoma) and Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namo).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius, of putting “a stain and disgrace” (maculam atque ignōminiam) on someone's pleasures.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Roman public life ignōminia was a formal penalty: the censor's mark against a citizen, which kept him out of office and out of the senate (Cicero), and in the army a disgrace that brought dismissal or loss of rank (Caesar degrades some standard-bearers ignōminiā).^[2] Döderlein explains that it took away political honour by an official act, independently of what people said, unlike īnfāmia, which was the loss of reputation.^[7] In later legal texts the two can hardly be told apart.^[2] More generally it is any disgrace or dishonour, and a particular disgraceful occurrence.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “shame, ignominy, confusion, disgrace”.^[8] English ignominy appeared in the 1530s.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius of a disgrace.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the censor's mark.^[2][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of military degradation.^[2][6]
• 1530s – English ignominy.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Degradation by a censor; military disgrace, dismissal.^[2][4]
2. Loss of good name, disgrace, dishonour, ignominy.^[2][1][8]
3. A particular occasion of disgrace.^[2]

Word family

• ignōminiō
• ignōminiōsus

Related words

• nōmen
• īnfāmia
• English ignominy

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com