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imus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word imus

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Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Naevius
Ultimate origin
Latin (īnferus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈiː.mʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈiː.mus][1]

Forms

īmus (superlative, feminine īma, neuter īmum); first/second declension[1]

Etymology

The explanation is disputed.[2][3] Walde and Hofmann and Meiser take it as a remodelling of īnfimus “lowest” after summus “highest”; de Vaan suggests a sound change *infimos > *infmos > *immos > īmus, with īnfimus restored from forms without syncope.[2] The OLD calls it often regarded as a contracted superlative of īnferus “lower”.[3][1] Wiktionary instead derives it from Proto-Italic *enðemos, Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰ-m̥mó-s.[1] Oscan imad may be cognate if it means “from below”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.[2][4] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant lowest in position, bottommost, as Cato's hams that were on top to be put at the bottom, and was used of the underworld.[3] It also meant deepest or innermost, as Ovid's earth drinking tears into its deepest veins, lowest in pitch, as Horace's lowest string, last in order, and lowest in the social scale, as Juvenal's eloquent citizen from the lowest people.[3] The neuter īmum meant the bottom.[5][6] Döderlein says īmum is the lowest part of a whole, while īnfimum is the lowest of several parts, the base.[7]

In Medieval Latin it lost its superlative force and meant deep or even high.[8] It survives in Italian imo.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of the bottom layer.[3][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the deepest veins of the earth.[3][4]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of the lowest people.[3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Lowest, bottommost.[3]
  2. Of the underworld.[3]
  3. Deepest, innermost.[3]
  4. (of sound) Lowest in pitch.[3]
  5. Last, final.[3]
  6. Lowest in social rank.[3]
  7. (Medieval Latin) Deep; high.[8]

Word family

  • īmitus
  • īmulus
  • īmum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Imus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/imus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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