inquinatus

Forms

inquinātus (feminine inquināta, neuter inquinātum; comparative inquinātior, superlative inquinātissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inquinō (“to defile, pollute”), its participle used as an adjective.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first,^[3] as in the Verrines, of most filthy talk and shameful flatteries.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

It is mostly moral, stained with guilt or impure: Cicero asks who was more defiled in pleasures, calls a method of gain most sordid and defiled, and says nothing was fouler than a certain man,^[1][2] Catullus has a father with a dirtier right hand, and Valerius Maximus a most impure life.^[1][2] Seneca uses the feminine plural for prostitutes, and Valerius Maximus speaks of the defiled voice of a eunuch.^[1] Of diction it is debased or corrupt, a fault Cicero lists in words.^[1][2] In its plain sense it is dirty or discoloured, as Papirius Fabianus' darker, dirtier salt.^[1] Augustine has a most impure desire.^[2] Church Latin has “defiled, polluted”.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of filthy talk and debased diction.^[1][3]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus, of a dirty hand.^[1][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of prostitutes.^[1][3]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine, of impure desire.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Dirty, discoloured.^[1]
2. Of diction, debased, corrupt.^[1][2]
3. Stained with guilt, morally impure, defiled, foul.^[1][2][4]

Related words

• inquinō
• inquināmentum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson