desidia

Latin

Etymology 1

From dēses +‎ -ia.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /deːˈsi.di.a/, [d̪eːˈs̠ɪd̪iä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈsi.di.a/, [d̪eˈs̬iːd̪iä]

Noun

dēsidia f (genitive dēsidiae); first declension

1. idleness
2. inactivity

   Synonyms: pigritia, segnitia, ignavia, inertia, sōcordia, ōtium

   Antonyms: impigritās, alacritās, strēnuitās, āctīvitās

3. laziness, indolence, sloth

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	dēsidia	dēsidiae
Genitive	dēsidiae	dēsidiārum
Dative	dēsidiae	dēsidiīs
Accusative	dēsidiam	dēsidiās
Ablative	dēsidiā	dēsidiīs
Vocative	dēsidia	dēsidiae

Descendants

• Medieval Latin: dēsideus, dēsidium n (see there for further descendants)

Borrowings:

• → Catalan: desídia
• → Italian: desidia
• → Portuguese: desídia
• → Spanish: desidia

Etymology 2

From dēsīdō +‎ -ia.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /deːˈsiː.di.a/, [d̪eːˈs̠iːd̪iä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈsi.di.a/, [d̪eˈs̬iːd̪iä]

Noun

dēsīdia f (genitive dēsīdiae); first declension

1. retiring

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	dēsīdia	dēsīdiae
Genitive	dēsīdiae	dēsīdiārum
Dative	dēsīdiae	dēsīdiīs
Accusative	dēsīdiam	dēsīdiās
Ablative	dēsīdiā	dēsīdiīs
Vocative	dēsīdia	dēsīdiae

References

• “desidia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “desidia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• desidia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to abandon oneself to inactivity and apathy: desidiae et languori se dedere
    

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēsidia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deˈsidja/ [d̪eˈsi.ð̞ja]
• Rhymes: -idja
• Syllabification: de‧si‧dia

Noun

desidia f (plural desidias)

1. negligence, inertia; slovenliness

   Synonyms: dejadez, negligencia

   • 2015 November 13, “La resurrección del pueblo sepultado en el lodo”, in El País‎^[2]:

     La radio les avisó de la tragedia: Armero, una próspera población algodonera de 50.000 habitantes, a cuatro horas de Bogotá, había sido arrasada por la furia de la naturaleza y la desidia del Estado.

     The radio informed them of the tragedy: Armero, a prosperous cotton town of 50,000 inhabitants, four hours from Bogotá, had been devastated by a natural fury and the slovenliness of the State.

2. procrastination
   • 1885, Emilia Pardo Bazán, El cisne de Vilamorta, Chapter 24:

     Las villitas así, en invierno, son capaces de producir murria al más alegre: son la raíz cuadrada del fastidio, la quintaesencia del esplín, la desidia de peinarse, la pereza de vestirse, la interminable noche, el aguacero terco, el frío lúgubre, el aire color de ceniza y el cielo color de panza de burro...

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• desidioso

 

Further reading

• “desidia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014