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informo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word informo

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin (fōrma)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin informo
English inform

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ĩːˈfoːr.moː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iɱˈfɔr.mo][1]

Forms

īnfōrmō (present infinitive īnfōrmāre, perfect active īnfōrmāvī, supine īnfōrmātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from in- “in, on” and fōrmō “to form”.[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Varro, of shaping and of sketching in words.[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to give shape to, fashion, form, as Virgil's shield and Columella's threshing floor, mostly in poetry.[2][6][7] From Varro it meant to sketch, outline in words, and in Cicero to form an idea of, imagine, and to mould a person or mind by instruction.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to fashion, form, mould, represent, shape, train.[8] Glossaries explain it as īnstruat, doceat “let him instruct, teach”.[3] It survives in Italian informare and French informer, and English inform came in the early 14th century, “to train or instruct”, īnfōrmātiō gave English information.[1][4]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of shaping.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of instruction.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of fashioning a shield.[6][5]
  • early 14th century – English inform is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To shape, fashion, form.[2]
  2. To outline, sketch in words.[2]
  3. To form an idea of, imagine.[2]
  4. To mould by instruction; to inform, instruct.[2][8]

Word family

  • īnfōrmātiō
  • informator

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Informo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/informo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·