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ingressus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋˈɡrɛs.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iŋˈɡrɛs.sus][1]

Forms

ingressus m (genitive ingressūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ingredior (“to step in, enter”) + -tus, a fourth-declension noun of action.[2][3][4] ingredior is a compound of in- and gradior (“to step, go”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[5] who asks his hearers to remember how quick someone's return was and how he entered the forum.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the act of going in, an entry,[2][6] and also a way in: Sallust has a hill with a narrow, sandy approach.[2] Velleius has Antony's entry into the camp,[6] and later writers use it of a hostile inroad.[6] Virgil uses it of a beginning, asking where men's new skill took its start, and Quintilian of the opening of a speech.[2] It is also walking and steps: Cicero asks what use feet are without walking, Pliny the Elder uses it of the gait of a queen bee, Silius of a hostile advance and Livy of treading on unsteady ground.[2] The TLL notes that the genitive is not found before Hilary.[3] In Church Latin it is an entrance or procession,[7] and in medieval texts also the taking possession of property or rights.[8] English ingress (mid-15th century) came from it.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of entering the forum and of walking.[2][5]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust, of an approach.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, of a beginning.[2][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of the opening of a speech.[2][5]
  • mid-15th century – Borrowed into English as ingress.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A going in, entry, entrance;[2][6][1] a hostile inroad.[6][1]
  2. A way in, an approach.[2]
  3. A beginning; the opening of a speech.[2]
  4. Walking, a step; gait;[2] a hostile advance.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Entry into possession of property or rights.[8]

Usage notes

Ingressus, -a, -um is also the participle of ingredior, “having entered, having begun”.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill