insignitus

Forms

īnsignītus (feminine īnsignīta, neuter īnsignītum, comparative īnsignītior); first and second declension^[1][2]

Etymology

The OLD derives it from īnsigne (“distinguishing mark, badge”) with the suffix -ītus,^[1] while Lewis and Short and Georges treat it as the participle of īnsigniō (“to mark, distinguish”) used as an adjective.^[3][4] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of sīgnum (“mark, sign”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *sekno- (“statue, sign”) and Proto-Indo-European *sek(h₂)-no- (“cut”), with a shift from “what is carved out” to “sign”; he compares Oscan segúnú (“statues”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler record it first in Plautus,^[5][6] in a fragment about boys marked out by crooked legs, insignitos pueros … aut varum aut valgum.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is “marked with distinctive features”, and in Ennius and Varro “wearing marks of identification”, of soldiers.^[1][7] The Rhetorica ad Herennium and Cicero use it of vivid, sharply drawn images to be held in the memory,^[1][7] and Seneca of the peculiar sing-song of tavern hawkers.^[1][7] From Cato on it means “remarkable, signal”, often of something shameful: Cato's insignitas iniurias, Livy's insignitior contumelia and ignominia.^[1][4] Livy also uses it of a well-known story.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of boys marked by crooked legs.^[1][5][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato speaks of insignitae iniuriae, signal wrongs.^[1][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of distinct images and notions.^[1][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a distinctive manner of calling out wares.^[1][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Marked with distinctive features;^[1][7] (military) wearing marks of identification.^[1][7]
2. Clearly defined, distinct; peculiar, distinctive.^[1][4]
3. Remarkable, signal, often of something shameful; well known.^[1][4]

Usage notes

Georges and Gaffiot give a second īnsignītus, “furnished with a standard”, formed from in- and sīgnum, for the line of Ennius insignita fere tum milia militum octo;^[4][2] the OLD puts this line under the military sense of the same word.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier