infelix Latin · revision 18099

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *dʰeh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ĩːˈfeː.liːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iɱˈfɛː.liks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''īnfēlīx''' (genitive īnfēlīcis, comparative īnfēlīcior, superlative īnfēlīcissimus, adverb īnfēlīciter); third-declension one-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Catullus has the ablative ''īnfēlīce''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|in-|fēlīx|t1=not|t2=fruitful, fortunate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan derives [[m|la|fēlīx]] from [[itc-pro|*fēl(w)ī-|t=suckling]], from a stem [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-l-|t=sucking animal]] of the root of [[m|la|fīlius|t=son]], cognate with [[grc|θηλή|tr=thēlḗ|t=nipple]] and [[grc|θῆλυς|tr=thêlus|t=female]]; its sense developed from “suckling, with young” to “fruitful” and “fortunate”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) who has ''quem propter hodiē aurī tantum perdidī īnfēlīx, miser'', “because of whom I have lost so much gold today, unlucky wretch that I am”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of plants and soil ''īnfēlīx'' is “unproductive, barren” (Virgil: ''īnfēlīx lolium et sterilēs nāscuntur avēnae'', “barren darnel and sterile oats spring up”); Pliny the Elder says people call a tree that bears no fruit ''īnfēlīx''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) It is “causing misfortune, disastrous, ill-omened”, and of persons “ill-fated, unlucky”, also simply “unhappy, wretched” (Cicero: ''torqueor īnfēlīx'', “I am tormented in my misery”).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Of persons it can mean “unsuccessful” at something, and of actions and policies “having an unhappy outcome”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “unhappy, unlucky”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''perdidī īnfēlīx, miser''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of what is harmful to the crop.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil: ''īnfēlīx lolium''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder on the ''arbor īnfēlīx''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Unproductive, [[m|en|barren]] (of plants or soil).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Causing misfortune, disastrous, ill-omened.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Ill-fated, [[m|en|unfortunate]], unlucky.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # [[m|en|unhappy]], wretched, miserable.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Unsuccessful; having an unhappy outcome.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[īnfēlīcitās]]

+ * [[infēlīcō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[īnfēlīciter]]

+ * [[īnfēlīcitō]]

+ * [[fēlīx]]

+ * [[fīlius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}