infamosus

Forms

īnfāmōsus (feminine īnfāmōsa, neuter īnfāmōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin īnfāmis (“disreputable, infamous”) + -ōsus (“full of”).^[1][2] Etymonline analyses it instead as in- (“not”) and fāmōsus (“celebrated”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Medieval Latin word;^[2][1] Köbler's first record of it in British sources is from the 12th century.^[2][1]

Semantic evolution

It meant “of ill repute, notorious”, of people and of places:^[4][1] a manual of procedure in the DMLBS speaks of an accused man seen at night with a suspect or disreputable woman, and a letter describes “most infamous places” that look more like a Stygian marsh than land.^[4] In a Polish source it is “slanderous”: Dioscorus, it says, wrote a defamatory pamphlet against the pope, calling him a rotten head.^[5]

It is the source of Middle English infamous, at first “not well known” (early 15th century); in the 16th century that word merged with infamis, “of ill repute”, borrowed from Latin īnfāmis, into the English infamous.^[3][1]

Timeline

• 12th century – Köbler's first record in British sources.^[2]
• early 15th century – Middle English infamous is borrowed from it.^[3][1]
• 16th century – English infamous takes on the sense “of ill repute”.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Of ill repute, notorious, infamous (of people and places).^[4][1][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Defamatory, slanderous.^[5]

Related words

• īnfāmia
• fāmōsus
• English infamous

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl