Etymologically
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ingratiis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋˈɡraː.ti.iːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iŋˈɡrat.t͡si.is][1]

Forms

ingrātiīs (not comparable)[1] Also contracted ingrātīs.[2][3] In the comic poets the word has four syllables, and the contracted form is not securely attested before Lucretius.[4] Manuscripts of Plautus also have the spelling ingratieis.[4][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not, un-”) + grātia (“favour, goodwill, thanks”) in the ablative plural,[2][4][5] so literally “without thanks”.[3] Wiktionary takes it as the ablative plural of the noun ingrātia (“thanklessness”).[1] Leumann, as reported by de Vaan, even regards the simple noun as secondary, made from the negative one.[6] The simple noun belongs to the adjective grātus (“pleasing, grateful”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *gʷrāto- (“grateful”) and Proto-Indo-European *gʷrH-to- (“praised (in a song)”).[6]

Cognate with Oscan brateis (“of grace, mercy”) and Sanskrit गृणाति (gr̥ṇā́ti, “to praise, honour, welcome”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Plautus, Terence, Scipio the Younger and Cicero on.[4] In the Amphitruo a speaker complains that his master's immoderation has had him roused at this hour of night against his will (hoc noctis … ingratiis excitavit).[2][4]

Semantic evolution

With a genitive or a possessive adjective it means “against the will of”: Plautus has amborum ingratiis, “against the will of both”, and tuis ingratiis, “against your will”.[2][7] Used alone it refers either to someone forced to do or suffer something, or to the subject acting reluctantly: Terence has ingratiis ut dormiam, “so that I sleep in spite of myself”, and Cicero says that people will gladly keep quiet what they can and say what they must ingratiis, unwillingly.[2][8] Lucretius uses the contracted form of seeds that must fall ingratis, by necessity.[2][4] Later it occurs in Nepos, Gellius, Fronto and Apuleius.[2] A scholiast on Terence counts it among the adverbs, and glossaries explain it as sine voluntate, “without willing”.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it, with and without a genitive.[2][4][9]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of someone acting against his own will.[2][9]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius has the contracted ingratis.[2][4][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the Verrines.[2][9]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius has ingratiis nostris, “against our will”.[2][3][9]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (with a genitive or possessive adjective) Against the will of, in despite of.[2][7]
  2. (used alone) Unwillingly, against one's will; under compulsion.[2][3][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de