Etymologically
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segnitia

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [seːŋˈnɪ.ti.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [seɲˈɲit.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

sēgnitia f (genitive sēgnitiae); first declension[1] A fifth-declension form sēgnitiēs, -ēī is less frequent.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sēgnis (“slow, sluggish”) + -itia.[2][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *sēk/g-ni- for the adjective, an adjective in ⟨*-ni-⟩ like lēnis; its root may be that of Ancient Greek ἦκα (êka, “slightly, softly”), but the connection is uncertain.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[4] The OLD's first quotation is Terence's there is no room for sloth or idleness.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is disinclination to act or exert oneself, sloth, slowness or dilatoriness: Tacitus writes that what was sloth was called wisdom.[2][3] Seneca uses it of physical inertia, a nerveless sluggishness and weariness without toil, and a declamation of the weakness of an expression.[2] Döderlein counts it, with dēsidia, socordia and pigritia, among the faults of too easy a temper: sēgnitia needs rousing or compulsion before it gives up its ease, and is the opposite of promptus.[5] Church Latin glosses it slowness or sluggishness.[6]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence of no room for sloth.[2][3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the word.[7]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of physical sluggishness.[2][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of sloth called wisdom.[3][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Disinclination to act, sloth, inertia, dilatoriness.[2][3][1][6]
  2. Physical sluggishness; feebleness (of an expression).[2]

Word family

  • sēgnitiēs

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de