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innocentia

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word innocentia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
230/220–168 BC, Caecilius
Ultimate origins
Latin (in-)Proto-Indo-European (*noḱ-éye-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪn.nɔˈkɛn.ti.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [in.noˈt͡ʃɛn.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

innocentia f (genitive innocentiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from innocēns (“harmless, guiltless”) with -ia.[2][3] The adjective is in- (“not”) with nocēns (“harmful, guilty”), from noceō (“to harm”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *nokeje- (“to cause death”) and Proto-Indo-European *noḱ-éye- (“to make disappear, cause death”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler give Caecilius Statius as its first author.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is freedom from guilt, innocence, as when Cicero speaks of freeing the innocence of defendants from the penalty of the courts, and more broadly uprightness and integrity: Scipio Aemilianus said that rank is born of innocentia.[2] Cicero defines it as a state of mind that harms nobody.[6] Pliny the Elder uses it of harmless animals.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “innocence, integrity, uprightness”.[7]

Timeline

  • 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius Statius.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the innocence of the accused.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of harmless animals.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Freedom from guilt, innocence.[2][1][7]
  2. Uprightness, blamelessness, integrity.[2][1][7]
  3. (of animals) Harmlessness.[2][6]

Usage notes

Döderlein sets it beside virtūs, virtue shown in meritorious actions: innocentia is virtue shown in blameless, above all disinterested conduct, and honestās virtue shown in noble sentiments.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Innocentia.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/innocentia. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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