ingens

Latin

Etymology

Traditionally from in- (“un-, not”) +‎ gens (“kind, family, race”); something that goes beyond what is natural for its kind. Sometimes linked to Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s, from an extended form of the oblique stem *m̥ǵh₂- ; this would make it cognate to magnus, Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas) and Sanskrit महत् (mahat)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈin.ɡens/, [ˈɪŋɡẽːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.d͡ʒens/, [ˈin̠ʲd͡ʒens]

Adjective

ingēns (genitive ingentis, comparative ingentior, superlative ingentissimus); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. huge, vast, enormous

   Synonyms: impēnsus, immēnsus, vāstus, immānis

2. immoderate, exorbitant
3. extraordinary, unnatural
4. (figuratively) mighty, powerful

   Synonyms: praevalēns, fortis, potis, potēns, validus, strēnuus, firmus, compos

   Antonyms: dēbilis, languidus, aeger, fractus, tenuis, īnfirmus, inops

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	ingēns			ingentēs	ingentia
genitive	ingentis			ingentium
dative	ingentī			ingentibus
accusative	ingentem	ingēns		ingentēs	ingentia
ablative	ingentī			ingentibus
vocative	ingēns			ingentēs	ingentia

• The ablative singular also appears as ingente.

Descendants

• → Catalan: ingent
• → Italian: ingente
• → Sicilian: ncenti
• → Spanish: ingente

References

• “ingens”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ingens”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ingens in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a numerous army: ingens, maximus exercitus (not numerosus)
    
  • to cause great slaughter, carnage: ingentem caedem edere (Liv. 5. 13)