stagnum

Latin

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *stag- (“to seep drip”), source of Ancient Greek στάζω (stázō, “to drip”). Conversely, possibly related to Ancient Greek τέναγος (ténagos).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈstaɡ.num/, [ˈs̠t̪äŋnʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈstaɲ.ɲum/, [ˈst̪äɲːum]

Noun

1. pond, swamp, fen; any piece of standing water
2. (poetic) waters
3. (poetic) any pool or lake in general

   Stagnum ignis.

   A lake of fire.

4. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Alternative form of stannum

Usage notes

Although often mentioned in dictionaries, the use of the spelling stagnum as a form of stannum (“tin”) is unattested in Classical or Late Latin. It is perhaps a later Italianate respelling of that word.

Coordinate terms

• lacus, palūs

Derived terms

• stagni incola (an inhabitant of lakes; a frog)

Descendants

• Catalan: estany
• French: étain
• Italian: stagno
• Occitan: estanh

References

• “stagnum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “stagnum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• stagnum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• stagnum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • running water: aqua viva, profluens (opp. stagnum)