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segnis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word segnis

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈseːŋ.nɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛɲ.ɲis][1]

Forms

sēgnis (neuter sēgne, comparative sēgnior, superlative sēgnissimus, adverb sēgniter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][1] De Vaan sets up Proto-Italic *sēk-ni- or ⟨*sēg-ni-⟩, an adjective in ⟨-ni-⟩ like lēnis and omnis, and compares the root of Ancient Greek ἦκα (êka, “slightly, softly”) and ἥσσων (hḗssōn, “weaker, lesser”); that root has been traced to Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to dry out”) or to ⟨*seh₁k-⟩, but neither fits the meaning well.[3][1] Lewis & Short report the older derivation from sequor (“to follow”), “one who lags behind”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[3] Accius has men sēgnīs somnō et tarditūdine, “sluggish with sleep and slowness”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means unwilling to exert oneself, without energy, slothful, as Cicero urges his hearers not to become slacker or shrink from bold counsel;[2] Virgil uses it of idle, untilled land.[2] Of movement it is slow and sluggish, of actions slack (Virgil: no delay holds Turnus back), and of water and wind slow-moving: Curtius has rivers that carry sēgnēs aquās.[2] Lewis & Short note that the positive was not common until after the Augustan period, though the comparative is.[4]

Church Latin glosses it “slow, slothful, sluggish”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[3][6]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of men sluggish with sleep.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of slackness of spirit.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of idle land.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. slothful, inactive, lazy;[2][1][5] (of land) idle, untilled.[2][1][5]
  2. Slow, sluggish (in movement).[2][1]
  3. (of actions) Slack, dilatory.[2]
  4. (of water, wind, processes) Slow-moving, slow.[2]

Word family

  • persegnis
  • segnesco
  • sēgnipēs
  • sēgnitās
  • sēgnitia
  • sēgniter

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Segnis.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/segnis. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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