Etymologically
Log in

sanguineus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word sanguineus

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (sanguis)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [saŋˈɡʷɪ.ne.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [saŋˈɡʷiː.ne.us][1]

Forms

sanguineus (feminine sanguinea, neuter sanguineum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from sanguis “blood” with the suffix -eus.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Cicero's De divinatione, of a rain of blood (imber sanguineus).[2][3] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant consisting of blood, bloody, and Lewis and Short call it a favourite word of the Augustan poets.[2][3] It meant blood-stained, of eyes bloodshot, as in Virgil, of fighting bloody, as in Horace, and of persons bloodthirsty.[2][5] It also meant blood-red, crimson, and frutex sanguinea or virga sanguinea was the cornel or dogwood, whose wood Livy mentions.[2] Döderlein explains that sanguis is the blood circulating in the body, cruor blood shed from it.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant of blood, bloody.[7] Medieval Latin used it as a noun for a blood relation.[8] English sanguine came in the late 14th century, first “blood-red”, through Old French and directly from Latin, while English sanguineous came in the 1510s.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a rain of blood.[2][3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of bloodshot eyes and of bloodthirsty persons.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of bloody fighting.[2][4]
  • late 14th century – English sanguine is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of blood, consisting of blood.[2]
  2. Blood-stained; of eyes, bloodshot; bloody.[2]
  3. Bloodthirsty.[2]
  4. Blood-red, crimson, virga sanguinea, dogwood.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) As a noun, a blood relation.[8]

Word family

  • cōnsanguineus

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 l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Sanguineus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/sanguineus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·