ingenium

Latin

Etymology

From in- +‎ gignō +‎ -ium.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪŋˈɡɛ.ni.ũː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [in̠ʲˈd͡ʒɛː.ni.um]

Noun

ingenium n (genitive ingeniī or ingenī); second declension

innate or natural quality, natural character; nature
Synonyms: indolēs, mēns, habitus, nātūra, character
- 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 93–95:
  Nam quī cum ingeniīs cōnflīctātur eiūs modī / neque commovētur animus in eā rē tamen, / sciās posse habēre iam ipsum <suae> vītae modum.
  For whoever contends with characters of that sort, and yet his mind is untempted by the opportunity, you may know that he can now possess the measure of his own life.
disposition, temper, inclination
intelligence, natural capacity
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.
a person of genius, a genius, a highly skilled or accomplished person
- c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca the Younger, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 1.2.2:
  Īdem accidat necesse est iīs quī nūllius sē ingeniō familiāriter applicant, sed omnia cursim et properantēs trānsmittunt.
  [Random wanderings dissipate one’s life, and:] The same must necessarily happen to those who do not intimately devote themselves to any one great [author], but hurry quickly through every [book] they skim over.
(Medieval Latin) machine, engine

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	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

Italo-Romance:
- Italian: ingegno m
- Sicilian: gnegnu m
Gallo-Romance:
- Catalan: enginy m
- Old French: engin m (see there for further descendants)
Ibero-Romance:
- Old Galician-Portuguese: engẽnho
  - Galician: enxeño m
  - Portuguese: engenho m
- Spanish: engeño m
Borrowings:
- → Romanian: ingeniu m
- → Spanish: ingenio m

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