ieiunus Latin · revision 718

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [jɛjˈjuː.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [jeˈjuː.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ieiūnus''' (feminine ieiūna, neuter ieiūnum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The oldest form is [[m|la|iaiūnus]], found in the oldest manuscripts of Plautus and in Pliny, which was later assimilated to ''ieiūnus''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) Following Forssman, de Vaan derives it from [[itc-pro|*jagjūno-]], a remodelling of an adjective *jagju- “eager to sacrifice”, from [[ine-pro|*Hyeh₂ǵ-|t=to worship, sacrifice]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) The link with fasting would lie in the custom of making the first sacrifice of the day on an empty stomach, and the same root is behind [[ientaculum|alt=ientāculum]] “breakfast”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline) The OLD and Köbler consider the origin unknown.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ Cognate with [[sa|यजति|tr=yájati|t=worships, sacrifices]], [[ae|yaza-|t=to worship]] and [[grc|ἅγιος|tr=hágios|t=holy]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is attested from Plautus onwards.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) In a prologue Plautus warns that anyone who has come to the theatre [[m|en|hungry]] had better leave.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The basic sense was fasting, having eaten nothing, and also hungry or thirsty, and Cato prescribes a dose for an ox that has not eaten.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Celsus used ''ieiunum intestinum'' for the part of the small intestine found empty, the [[m|en|jejunum]].^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) Figuratively it meant meagre or lacking, of land barren, and of style dry and uninteresting, as when Cicero calls the annals of the pontiffs the most ''ieiunum'' thing possible.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Christian Latin it meant fasting in a religious sense, and the noun ''[[ieiunium]]'' “fast” gave French ''jeûne''.^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary) [[en|jejune]] was borrowed in the 1610s in the sense “dull, insipid”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a hungry audience.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato prescribes a dose for a fasting ox.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero calls barren fields ''ieiuni'' and a speaker's style ''ieiunum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Celsus names the ''ieiunum intestinum''.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 1610s – English borrows it as [[en|jejune]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Fasting, having eaten nothing; [[m|en|hungry]], thirsty.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''ieiunum intestinum'': the [[m|en|jejunum]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Meagre, lacking, devoid (of something).^(OLD 2012)

+ # (of land) [[m|en|barren|alt=Barren]], poor.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (of style) Dry, dull, [[m|en|jejune]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Abstaining, holding aloof.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[iēiūnidicus]]

+ * [[ieiūnitās]]

+ * [[ieiūnium]]

+ * [[ieiūnō]]

+ * [[ieientō]]

+ * [[ieiūnē]]

+ * [[ientō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ientāculum]]

+ * [[en|jejune]]

+ * [[en|jejunum]]

+ * [[en|dinner]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}