inglorius

Forms

inglōrius (feminine inglōria, neuter inglōrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“not”) and glōria (“glory”) with the adjective ending ⟨-us⟩.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary analyses it as ⟨in-⟩ with a ⟨glōrius⟩.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[4] who says that those who are honoured seem happy and those without fame wretched.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It means without renown, obscure, undistinguished: Virgil has one dragging its broad belly without glory, and Tacitus an inglorious command.^[3][2] The TLL records a by-form inglōriōsus.^[5] Isidore of Seville explains it as without glory, that is without triumphs.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the unrenowned.^[3][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil.^[3]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of an inglorious command.^[3]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains it as without triumphs.^[5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Without renown, inglorious, obscure, undistinguished.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• glōria
• English inglorious

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften