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intutus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word intutus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
86–34 BC, Sallust
Ultimate origin
Latin (tūtus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin tutus
Latin intutus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪnˈtuː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [inˈtuː.tus][1]

Forms

intūtus (feminine intūta, neuter intūtum, comparative intūtior); first/second-declension adjective[1] Nazarius' panegyric has the comparative intūtior.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + tūtus (“safe, protected”).[4][1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it perhaps in Lucilius and then from Sallust on.[5] Sallust's Histories ask how long the hearers will leave the state unprotected by their delay.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

It is unguarded or defenceless: Livy has a Gallic camp unguarded and neglected, and Tacitus a camp pitched without defences and the town of Verulamium, rich for plunder and hard to defend.[4][3] The neuter plural intūta is the weak points, as Tacitus' intūta moenium.[4][2] It is also unsafe or dangerous: Tacitus says that what is dishonourable is also unsafe, and calls hiding places and the friendship of Tiberius unsafe.[4][2] Pliny the Elder has it unsafe to write with an iron stylus, and Ammianus a river dangerous with whirlpools.[2][3] A list of synonyms ascribed to Cicero sets it beside suspecta, īnfīda and hostīlia.[5]

Timeline

  • 86–34 BC – Sallust, of an unprotected state.[4][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of an unguarded camp.[4][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of unsafe friendship and weak points of walls.[4][6]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus, of a dangerous river.[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Unguarded, unprotected, defenceless;[4][2][1] (neuter plural as noun) weak points.[4][2][1]
  2. Unsafe, unreliable, dangerous.[4][2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Intutus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/intutus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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