Etymologically
Log in

incendium

Etymology and origin of the Latin word incendium

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪŋˈkɛn.di.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [in̠ʲˈt͡ʃɛn.di.um][1]

Forms

incendium n (genitive incendiī or incendī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from incendere “to set on fire” with the suffix -ium.[2][3][1] Incendere is a compound of in- and the root of candēre “to shine, glow”.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Lucretius,[6] but the OLD cites it already in Ennius, of a torch wrapped in blood and fire.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a destructive fire, accidental or deliberate, and in poetry fire or flames, including volcanic fires and incendiary missiles.[2][7] It meant fiery heat, of the body or the sun.[2][8] Figuratively it was used of outbreaks of hostility, as in Cicero's incendium belli Punici, of violent passions, especially love, and of soaring corn prices (incendium annonae).[2]

In medieval Latin it meant arson and the jurisdiction over cases of arson.[9] It survives as French incendie and Italian incendio,[1] and its derivative incendiarius gave English incendiary.[10]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a burning torch.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it for forest fires.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a burning fleet and figuratively of war.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for the burning heat of the stars.[2][6]
  • Middle Ages – It means arson.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A fire, conflagration, (poetic) flames.[2][7]
  2. An incendiary missile; a meteor.[2]
  3. Fiery heat.[2]
  4. (figurative) An outbreak (of war, hostility); the fire of passion, incendium annonae: high corn prices.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Arson; jurisdiction over arson.[9]

Word family

  • incendialis
  • incendiārius
  • incendiosus
  • incendō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Incendium.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/incendium. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on .