ingenium

Latin

Etymology

From in- +‎ gignō +‎ -ium.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /inˈɡe.ni.um/, [ɪŋˈɡɛniʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /inˈd͡ʒe.ni.um/, [in̠ʲˈd͡ʒɛːnium]

Noun

ingenium n (genitive ingeniī or ingenī); second declension

1. innate or natural quality, natural character; nature

   Synonyms: indolēs, mēns, habitus, nātūra, character

2. disposition, temper, inclination
3. intelligence, natural capacity
4. talent, ability, art
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 2.123:

     dēficit ingenium, maiōraque vīribus urgent

     My ability is lacking, and what urges me on is greater than my strength.

5. a man of genius, a genius
6. (Medieval Latin) machine, engine

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ingenium	ingenia
Genitive	ingeniī ingenī1	ingeniōrum
Dative	ingeniō	ingeniīs
Accusative	ingenium	ingenia
Ablative	ingeniō	ingeniīs
Vocative	ingenium	ingenia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Descendants

• Catalan: enginy
• English: engine
• French: engin
• Italian: ingegno
• Norman: engîn (Jersey)
• Old Galician-Portuguese: engẽnho
  • Galician: enxeño
  • Portuguese: engenho
• Sicilian: gnegnu
• Spanish: engeño, ingenio

References

• “ingenium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ingenium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ingenium 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)
• ingenium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a man of ability: vir magno ingenio, ingeniosus
    
  • a man of ability: vir magno ingenio praeditus
    
  • to be talented, gifted: ingenio valere
    
  • to be very talented: ingenio abundare
    
  • natural gifts: natura et ingenium
    
  • to sharpen the wits: ingenium acuere
    
  • penetration; sagacity: ingenii acumen
    
  • dulness of intellect: ingenii tarditas (opp. celeritas)
    
  • weakmindedness: ingenii infirmitas or imbecillitas
    
  • imagination: ingenium, cogitatio
    
  • vivid, lively imagination: ingenii vis or celeritas
    
  • to cultivate the mind: animum, ingenium excolere (not colere)
    
  • mental culture: animi, ingenii cultus (not cultura)
    
  • to be gifted, talented: ingenio valere
    
  • to possess rich mental endowments: summo ingenio praeditum esse
    
  • we expect a great deal from a man of your calibre: magna est exspectatio ingenii tui
    
  • to make a character-sketch of a person: de ingenio moribusque alicuius exponere
    
  • to indulge one's caprice: sibi or ingenio suo indulgere (Nep. Chabr. 3)
    
  • character: natura et mores; vita moresque; indoles animi ingeniique; or simply ingenium, indoles, natura, mores