minio

Forms

miniō (present infinitive miniāre, perfect active miniāvī, supine miniātum); first conjugation^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin minium (“cinnabar, red lead”) + -ō.^[1][3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has its participle miniātus, of a statue of Jupiter painted red and of a red pencil.^[2][4] The verb itself is first found in Pliny the Elder, who says that among the censors' first contracts was one for painting the statue of Jupiter red.^[1][3]

Semantic evolution

It remained a rare word for colouring something red with cinnabar or red lead.^[1][5] Apicius uses the passive in a reflexive sense, to turn red.^[2][6] The participle miniātus was used as an adjective, red or painted red, and Pliny applies it to the red collar of a parrot.^[2]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero's letters have the participle miniātus.^[2][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses the verb of painting a statue of Jupiter.^[1][3][7]
• 4th century AD – Apicius, of turning red.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To colour red with cinnabar or red lead.^[1][5][3]
2. (passive) To turn red.^[2][6]

Word family

• miniātulus

Usage notes

A separate proper noun Miniō was a small river of southern Etruria, now the Mignone, mentioned by Virgil.^[1][5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de