infamo

Forms

īnfāmō (present infinitive īnfāmāre, perfect active īnfāmāvī, supine īnfāmātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin īnfāmis (“disreputable”) + -ō.^[2][1][3] That adjective is in- (“not”) with fāma (“reputation”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Cicero, Nepos and Propertius on.^[3] Cicero writes that a man's moderation and dignity bring the injustice of others into disrepute.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is to give a bad name to, bring into disrepute: Propertius says Jupiter disgraces himself and his house.^[2][4] In law it is to disgrace with loss of rights, as the Digest says of a guardian who marries his ward.^[2] It is also to attack someone's character, defame: Nepos says three weighty historians praised a man whom most had defamed.^[2] The elder Seneca uses it of smearing with a particular suspicion.^[2] Glosses explain it as accusing and speaking impiously.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero.^[4][3]
• c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of defaming.^[2]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of Jupiter's disgrace.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bring into disrepute, disgrace, dishonour;^[2][4][1] (law) to disgrace with loss of rights.^[2][4][1]
2. To defame, blacken; to smear with suspicion; to accuse.^[2][1]

Word family

• infamatio

Related words

• īnfāmis
• īnfāmia
• fāma

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press