Etymologically
Log in

ignominiosus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 09:04. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋ.noː.mɪ.niˈoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iɲ.ɲo.mi.niˈɔː.s̬us][1]

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]

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