indigena

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɪnˈdɪ.ɡɛ.na], [ɪnˈdɪ.ɡɛ.naː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [inˈdiː.d͡ʒe.na], [inˈdiː.d͡ʒe.na]^[1]

Forms

indigena m (genitive indigenae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from indu- “within”, a strengthened form of in-, and -gena “born”, from gignō “to beget”.^[2][1][3] The TLL compares Ancient Greek ἔγγονος (éngonos, “grandchild”) and Old Irish ingen (“girl”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Varro, whom he dates 116–27 BC.^[4] The OLD's earliest citations are from Virgil, as an adjective, and Ovid, as a noun.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it meant one born in a place, a native, as in Ovid and Livy, and in Seneca an original inhabitant, rendering Ancient Greek αὐτόχθων (autókhthōn).^[2][5] As an adjective it meant native, indigenous, as Virgil's native Fauns and Nymphs, Livy's native soldiers and Pliny the Elder's native wine.^[2][5] Lewis and Short note it is not in Cicero or Caesar.^[2][6][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a native.^[7] British Medieval Latin used it for a native, a denizen.^[8] It was borrowed into French indigène, which gave English indigene in the 1590s, and Late Latin indigenus gave English indigenous in the 1640s.^[1][9]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of native gods.^[2][5][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of native soldiers.^[6][4]
• 1640s – English indigenous is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A native; an original inhabitant.^[2]

Adjective

1. Native, indigenous.^[2]

Related words

• gignō
• alienigena
• English indigenous
• English indigene

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com