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inornatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word inornatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (ōrdō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin orno
Latin ornatus
Latin ornate
Latin inornatus
Latin ornamentum
Latin adorno
Latin exorno
Latin suborno

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪ.noːrˈnaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [i.norˈnaː.tus][1]

Forms

inōrnātus (feminine inōrnāta, neuter inōrnātum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + ōrnātus1 (“adorned”),[1][2] the participle of ōrnō (“to adorn”) with the negative prefix.[3] De Vaan takes ōrnō to be the original verb made from ōrdō (“row, order”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from the Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero's rhetorical works and Horace on;[2] in the Orator Cicero says that some women are thought to look well without adornment, inornatae, since that very thing suits them.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero also uses it of plain style, calling Lysias tenuis atque inornatus,[5] and Quintilian also uses it of style.[5][3] Horace uses it of plain, ordinary words,[5] Tibullus and Ovid of dishevelled hair,[3][5] and Horace of a man left uncelebrated in verse: non ego te meis chartis inornatum sileri … patiar.[3][5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of unadorned women and a plain style.[3][5][6]
  • c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus uses it of an unkempt head.[3][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of plain words and of a man not celebrated in poetry.[3][5][6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of style.[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Unadorned, plain; of language or style, simple, without ornament.[3][5]
  2. Not properly arranged, dishevelled (of hair).[3]
  3. Not honoured, uncelebrated.[3][1]

Word family

  • inōrnātē

Usage notes

Lewis and Short give incomptus as a synonym.[5]

References

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

“Inornatus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/inornatus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·