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
- Dirty, discoloured.[1]
- Of diction, debased, corrupt.[1][2]
- Stained with guilt, morally impure, defiled, foul.[1][2][4]
Related words
- inquinō
- inquināmentum
References
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson