Etymologically
Log in

pignus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɪŋ.nʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpiɲ.ɲus][1]

Forms

pignus n (genitive pignoris); third declension[1]

Etymology

The etymology is uncertain, since the sense “pledge” could have grown from many concrete uses.[2] De Vaan considers *peg-nos-, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to fasten”), as in pangō, with the old suffix of fēnus and mūnus.[2][3][1] Walde and Pokorny preferred *pig-no- “something fixed”, and the OLD suggests the root of pingō “to paint”.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from the Twelve Tables, and de Vaan from Plautus.[5][2] Köbler dates the Twelve Tables c. 450 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was anything given as security, a pledge, and also a hostage.[4][6] It was a stake in a bet, as in pignus dare “to wager”, a guarantee or token of something, and, in poetry, children as the pledges of a marriage.[4] Isidore explains it as a thing pledged for a loan, of which the creditor holds possession for a time.[7]

In medieval Latin it was land given in mortgage, a hostage, and a saint's relic.[8] In British medieval Latin the Holy Spirit was called the pignus of salvation.[9] It survives in Italian pegno and Spanish peño.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – the Twelve Tables use it.[5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has someone pledge himself.[6][5]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius calls children the pledges of marriage.[4][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore defines it in law.[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pledge, security; a hostage.[4][6]
  2. A stake, wager.[4]
  3. A guarantee, token.[4]
  4. (plural) Children, as pledges of love.[4]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A relic.[8]

Word family

  • pignerō
  • pignoriscapiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press