indianus

Forms

indiānus (feminine indiāna, neuter indiānum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] The classical dictionaries write it with a capital, Indiānus.^[2][3]

Etymology

In the sense “Indian” it is from Latin India + -ānus.^[3][4][5] The OLD, however, explains its one classical use, the name of the cavalry unit ⟨ala Indiana⟩, as taken from a person: the unit was probably raised by Iulius Indus of the Treveri in AD 21 and named after him.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Inscriptions name a prefect of the cavalry unit āla Indiāna, a Gallic unit.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Gaffiot glosses the inscriptional word as staying in India,^[6] and Stelten gives it the sense Indian, of India.^[5] The medieval Latin of Hungary used it as a noun for an inhabitant of Lesser India, that is, an Ethiopian.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. āla Indiāna: a Gallic cavalry unit, probably named after Iulius Indus.^[2]
2. Of India, Indian.^[3][5][1]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) An inhabitant of Lesser India, that is, an Ethiopian.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE