Etymologically
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intutus

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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