Etymologically
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infamo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ĩːˈfaː.moː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iɱˈfaː.mo][1]

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

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