segniter Latin · revision 34320

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=la sēgnis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈseːŋ.nɪ.tɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛɲ.ɲi.ter]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sēgniter''' (comparative sēgnius, superlative sēgnissimē)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sēgnis|-ter|t1=slow, inactive]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*sēk/g-ni-]] for [[m|la|sēgnis]], an adjective in ⟨-ni-⟩ like [[m|la|lēnis]] and [[m|la|omnis]]; its root may be that of [[grc|ἦκα|tr=êka|t=slightly, softly]] and [[m|grc|ἥττων|tr=hḗttōn|t=weaker]], or, if these are kept apart, [[ine-pro|*seg-|t=to adhere, stick]], with “sticky” becoming “inert”, but the long vowel is unexplained either way.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest quotation is from a speech of Cato, who says that the censors would strive for the state ''segnius atque timidius'', “more slackly and timidly”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means without spirit or energy, half-heartedly, slackly, a sense common in Livy, Velleius, Pliny the Elder and Tacitus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) It also means without strength, feebly, as in Horace's remark that what enters through the ear ''segnius irritant animos'', “stirs the mind more feebly”, than what the eyes see.^(OLD 2012) With a negative the comparative became a fixed phrase: ''nihilo segnius'', “no less actively, with undiminished vigour”, is found in Cicero, Sallust, Nepos, Curtius, Tacitus and Pliny the Younger, and ''haud segnius quam'', “no less actively than”, in Ovid and Apuleius.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses the comparative ''segnius'' in a speech.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero has ''nihilo segnius''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of what stirs the mind feebly.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it often of slack action.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Without spirit or [[m|en|energy]], half-heartedly, [[m|en|slackly]], [[m|en|lazily]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Without strength, [[m|en|feebly]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''nihilo segnius'', ''haud segnius (quam)'': no less actively (than), with undiminished [[m|en|vigour]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sēgnis]]

+ * [[sēgnitia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}