ignavus

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Italic *n̥-

Latin in-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃wós

Proto-Italic *gnāwos

Latin (g)nāvus

Latin ignāvus

From in- + (g)nāvus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪŋˈnaː.wʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [iɲˈɲaː.vus]

Adjective

ignāvus (feminine ignāva, neuter ignāvum, comparative ignāvior, superlative ignāvissimus); first/second-declension adjective

1. lazy, slothful, inactive, sluggish

   Synonyms: dēses, iners, sēgnis, piger, socors, murcidus, languidus

   Antonyms: vīvus, strēnuus, impiger, alacer, ācer

   • 8 CE, Ovidius, Metamorphoses XI.593:

     Est prope Cimmerios longo spelunca recessu,
     mons cavus, ignavi domus et penetralia Somni.

     Near the Cimmerians there is a cave with long recess,
     a hollow mountain, the home and sanctuary of sluggish Sleep.

2. unproductive, idle
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.434–435:

     [...] aut agmine factō
     ignāvum fūcōs pecus ā praesēpibus arcent

     […] or by banding as an army [the bees] drive the drones, an idle herd, from the hive

3. cowardly

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ignāvus	ignāva	ignāvum		ignāvī	ignāvae	ignāva
genitive	ignāvī	ignāvae	ignāvī		ignāvōrum	ignāvārum	ignāvōrum
dative	ignāvō	ignāvae	ignāvō		ignāvīs
accusative	ignāvum	ignāvam	ignāvum		ignāvōs	ignāvās	ignāva
ablative	ignāvō	ignāvā	ignāvō		ignāvīs
vocative	ignāve	ignāva	ignāvum		ignāvī	ignāvae	ignāva

Derived terms

• īgnāvē
• īgnāvia

References

• “ignavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ignavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ignavus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.