Etymologically
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timidus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtɪ.mɪ.dʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtiː.mi.dus][1]

Forms

timidus (feminine timida, neuter timidum, comparative timidior); first/second-declension adjective[1] Naevius spells it timedus.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin timeō (“to fear”) + -idus.[2][1][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of timeō, whose origin is unknown: he rejects the comparison with words for “stiff” that Walde and Pokorny hesitantly made.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.[4] Ennius has timidō mānat ex omnī corpore sūdor, “sweat flows from every limb of the frightened man”, and Plautus timida es, “you are afraid”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Timidus is “easily frightened, fearful, timid”, the opposite of audāx, and also “cowardly”.[2][5] With a genitive it is “afraid of” (Horace: timidus procellae), with an infinitive “afraid to” (Horace: Codrus nōn timidus prō patriā morī), and it describes timid conduct and character.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “timid, fearful”.[6] English timid (1540s) comes from it, partly through French.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius has timedus.[2][4][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: timidō mānat ex omnī corpore sūdor.[2][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace: nōn timidus prō patriā morī.[2][7]
  • 1540s – English timid.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Fearful, timid, afraid.[2][5][1][6]
  2. Cowardly, faint-hearted.[5][1]
  3. (with genitive) Afraid of, (with infinitive) afraid to.[2]

Word family

  • intimidus
  • timiditās
  • timidē
  • timidulē
  • timefactus
  • timendus
  • timēns
  • timeō
  • timor
  • timōrātus
  • English timid

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de