Etymologically
Log in

internus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:06. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪnˈtɛr.nʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [inˈtɛr.nus][1]

Forms

internus (feminine interna, neuter internum, adverb internē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from inter “between” with the suffix -nus, from a pre-Latin ⟨*interos⟩ “inside”, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁énteros (“inner”).[2][1][3][4] Priscian derives it from intrā.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Sallust, whom he dates 86–34 BC, and Sallust uses it of internal affairs.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it post-Augustan.[6] It meant situated inside, internal, as Seneca's inner fire, and in Ovid within the house, private.[2][7] In Pliny the Elder it meant of seas landlocked, mare internum the Mediterranean.[2] From Sallust it meant domestic, civil, internal, as Tacitus' civil discords, and interna internal affairs.[2][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant internal, inward, inner.[8] Medieval Latin internālis from it gave English internal in the early 15th century, and French interne gave English intern.[3]

Timeline

  • 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of internal affairs.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the home.[2][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses mare internum.[2][4]
  • early 15th century – English internal is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Inside, internal; private.[2]
  2. Of seas, landlocked, mare internum, the Mediterranean.[2]
  3. Domestic, civil, interna, internal affairs.[2]

Word family

  • interna
  • internālis

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson