ingeniosus

Forms

ingeniōsus (feminine ingeniōsa, neuter ingeniōsum, comparative ingeniōsior, superlative ingeniōsissimus, adverb ingeniōsē); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Lewis and Short note a spelling ingenuōsus.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from ingenium (“natural character, talent”) with the suffix -ōsus.^[3][4][1] ⟨ingenium⟩ is from in- (“in”) and the root of gignō (“to beget”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to engender”).^[1][5]

Varro gives it as an adjective formed from ⟨ingenium⟩, and Isidore of Seville says a man is called so because he has within him the power of producing.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives the Rhetorica ad Herennium,^[6] which speaks of one person being more inventive than another.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Of people it is having good natural abilities, clever, gifted or talented, as Cicero's “the more skilful and gifted a man is, the more laboriously he teaches”, and with ad gifted for something.^[3][2][1] Of acts and writings it shows cleverness, as Cicero's ingenious defence.^[3] Of things, with a dative or ad, it is naturally suited, as Ovid's Lemnos, “a land kind to the farmer”.^[3][1]

Medieval Latin uses it of cunning and deception, and as a noun for an engineer, like ingeniārius.^[7] English ingenious (early 15th century) is from it through Old French.^[8]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium of inventiveness.^[3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of gifted teachers and an ingenious defence.^[3][6]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a land suited to farming.^[3][6]
• early 15th century – English ingenious comes from it.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Naturally gifted, clever, talented, ingenious.^[3][2][1]
2. (of actions, writings) Clever, showing ability.^[3]
3. Naturally suited (to), fit for.^[3][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) Cunning; deceptive.^[7]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) An engineer.^[7]

Word family

• peringeniōsus
• ingeniōsē

Related words

• ingenium
• gignō
• ingeniārius
• English ingenious
• English engine

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com