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inanis

Etymology and origin of the Latin word inanis

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Confidence
Unknown
First attested
Naevius

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪˈnaː.nɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iˈnaː.nis][1]

Forms

inānis (neuter ināne, comparative inānior, superlative inānissimus, adverb ināniter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2][3][4] De Vaan notes that the sense “empty, devoid of” is attested before “hollow”, and so is probably older.[2] Wiktionary mentions a possible compound of in- (“not”) and an unknown *ānis.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius uses it.[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[5] In Plautus a pot is seen to become full and empty.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was empty, containing nothing, as Cicero's empty vessel, house and ship, and hollow.[3][6] It was used of deserted places, of bare walls, of people or ships carrying no load, of the poor and empty-handed, and of a lifeless body.[3] Figuratively it was vain, idle, worthless or foolish, and as a noun ināne was empty space, the void of the philosophers.[1][7] Döderlein says it is the emptiness of what was once full, opposed to plēnus, while vacuus is merely unoccupied.[8]

In medieval Latin the noun was also the open air.[9] English inane is from it, first “empty, void”, and “silly” by 1819.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero distinguishes an empty vessel from the philosophers' void.[7][5]
  • 1660s – English inane is recorded as “empty, void”.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Empty, void.[3][7]
  2. Hollow.[3]
  3. Deserted; bare, unfurnished.[3]
  4. Carrying no load; poor, empty-handed.[3]
  5. Lifeless.[3]
  6. Vain, worthless, idle; foolish.[1][7]

Word family

  • ināne
  • ināniae
  • inānilogista
  • ināniloquium
  • ināniloquus
  • ināniō
  • inānitās
  • perinānis
  • sēminānis
  • subinānis
  • plēnus
  • vacuus
  • English inane

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Inanis.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/inanis. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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