inanimo

Forms

inanimō (present infinitive inanimāre); first conjugation^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin in-¹ + animō (“to animate, rouse”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's only ancient example is in Lucifer of Cagliari's treatise on dying for the Son of God, where it means to encourage or spur on, construed with ut and the subjunctive.^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin the MLW records it in the sense of animō, to give life to: a text ascribed to Bede speaks of a single world soul that animates all things.^[5] Regional dictionaries of medieval Latin give it as to hearten or rouse, both to good and to bad ends,^[6][7][8] and Ramminger finds the sense of urging on or inciting in Neo-Latin writers.^[9]

Timeline

• 355–361 AD – Lucifer of Cagliari uses it for urging someone on.^[1][3]
• 1463 – A Silesian document uses it of people being heartened.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To encourage, rouse, spur on.^[1][4][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) To animate, give life to.^[5]
3. (Medieval Latin) To hearten; also to incite to hostility.^[6][7][9]

Related words

• animus
• inanimus

Usage notes

Despite its form, it does not mean “deprive of life”: the dictionaries give it only the senses of animō,^[1][5][4] unlike the adjective inanimus “lifeless”, which the TLL derives from anima.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
7. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
8. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
9. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de