ingenium

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɪŋˈɡɛ.ni.ũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [in̠ʲˈd͡ʒɛː.ni.um]^[1]

Forms

ingenium n (genitive ingeniī or ingenī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from in- (“in”), the root of gignō “to beget”, and the suffix -ium, so “what is inborn”.^[2][1][3] Gignō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Naevius, who speaks of trees growing by their own nature.^[2][5] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a person's natural disposition, temperament, as Plautus' charming woman of modest nature, the inherent quality of things, as Virgil's arvōrum ingenia “the nature of soils”, and natural inclination.^[2][6] It came to mean mental powers, natural ability, talent, intellect, literary or poetic talent, as in Terence, and cleverness, ingenuity, as Cicero's jurists whose ingenuity found old men for fictitious sales.^[2] Lewis and Short note that the sense “nature” is mostly poetic and post-Augustan, not in Cicero or Caesar.^[3]

In Medieval Latin it meant a means or device, a legal title, a pretext, and a trick or machine.^[7] It survives in Italian ingegno.^[1] Through Old French engin it is the source of English engine, first “mechanical device, skill, trickery” about 1300, and its derivative ingeniōsus gave English ingenious.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of the nature of trees.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a woman's character.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of poetic talent.^[2][5]
• c. 1300 – English engine is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Natural disposition, temperament.^[2]
2. Inherent quality, nature (of things).^[2]
3. Natural inclination.^[2]
4. Mental powers, talent, intellect.^[2]
5. Literary or poetic talent.^[2]
6. Cleverness, ingenuity.^[2]
7. (Medieval Latin) A device, trick; a war machine.^[7]

Word family

• ingeniolum
• ingeniōsus

Related words

• gignō
• ingenuus
• English engine
• English ingenious

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 k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com