Etymologically
Log in

informis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 19:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ĩːˈfoːr.mɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iɱˈfɔr.mis][1]

Forms

īnfōrmis (neuter īnfōrme); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from in- “not” and fōrma “form, beauty” with the adjective ending -is.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is the Rhetorica ad Herennium, which he dates 86/82 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant without definite shape, shapeless, unformed, as of a raw block in Livy and Pliny the Elder; ugly, unsightly, hideous, as in Virgil; and unseemly, degrading, as in Virgil.[2][4]

British Medieval Latin used it for formless, and for not yet shaped as intended.[5]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – the Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it.[3]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of ugliness.[2][3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the unshaped.[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Shapeless, formless, unformed.[2]
  2. Ugly, hideous.[2]
  3. Unseemly, degrading.[2]

Word family

  • informitas

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ 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