ignominiosus

Forms

ignōminiōsus (feminine ignōminiōsa, neuter ignōminiōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ignōminia (“disgrace”) + -ōsus.^[2][1][3] ignōminia is formed from in- (“not”) and nōmen (“name”), a loss of one's good name.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[4] who says that one must bear a domination not only cruel and proud but also shameful and disgraceful.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short find it infrequent before the Augustan age.^[5] Of people it means suffering a public disgrace, branded with ignominy: Quintilian pairs “you were an exile” with “or disgraced”.^[2][5] Livy has a column of men covered in disgrace, and soldiers sent to an ignominious service that was almost exile.^[2] Of things it is shameful or discreditable.^[2] Church Latin has it as disgraceful, ignominious, shameful.^[6] English ignominious (early 15th century) came from it.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a shameful domination.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of a disgraced column and an ignominious service.^[2][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of a disgraced man.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – English ignominious.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Disgraced, branded with public ignominy.^[2][5][1]
2. Shameful, disgraceful, ignominious.^[2][5][1]

Related words

• ignōminia
• nōmen
• English ignominious

References

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