indigus

Forms

indigus (feminine indiga, neuter indigum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin indigeō (“to need”).^[2][3] De Vaan analyses it as ⟨*end-ego-⟩, from endo (“in”) and the root of egeō (“to lack”).^[4][1] He traces that verb to Proto-Italic *egē- (“to lack”) and Proto-Indo-European *h1eǵ-es- (“lack, need”), adding that the root etymology and its cognates are not very convincing.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Lucretius,^[4][5] who has a newborn child lying naked on the ground, indigus omni vitali auxilio, lacking all help for life.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It means needing or wanting something, with a genitive:^[2][3] Virgil has nostrae opis, in need of our help, and Tacitus an army lacking a commander.^[3][2] With an ablative it means devoid of, and used alone it means needy or poor, as in Statius' pauper et indigus.^[2][3] Lucan uses it of desiring something, servitii, eager for slavery.^[3][6] Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan.^[3] Church Latin keeps the sense needy.^[7]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of a newborn child lacking all help.^[2][4][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, with the genitive nostrae opis.^[3][5]
• 39–65 AD – Lucan, of being eager for slavery.^[3][5]
• c. 45–96 AD – Statius, of a needy man.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of an army without a leader.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. In need of, wanting (with a genitive).^[2][3][1]
2. Devoid of, lacking (also with an ablative).^[2][3]
3. needy, indigent, poor.^[2][3][7]
4. Desirous of, eager for.^[3][6]

Related words

• indigeō
• egeō
• indigentia
• egēnus

Usage notes

In medieval Latin indigus also appears as a form of indicus, the colour indigo.^[8]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill