segnis
Latin
Etymology
Uncertain. An adjective in -ni- reflecting possibly Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to coagulate, dry out”) or *seh₁k- (“to arrive”), but with semantic problems. Cognates would then include Ancient Greek ἦκα (êka, “slightly, slowly, a little”) and ἥσσων (hḗssōn, “inferior, weaker, smaller”).[1] Kroonen adds Proto-Germanic *seukaną, *suk(k)ōną (“to be ill, sick”) and Old Irish socht (“silence”), for a Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to be slow or quiet”).[2]
Otherwise, if not related to the Ancient Greek words, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *seg- (“to stick, adhere”), with acceptable semantic shift from "sticky" to "inert". In both cases the long vowel possibly reflects an original root noun, or otherwise remains unexplained.[1]
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈseːɡ.nis/, [ˈs̠eːŋnɪs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈseɲ.ɲis/, [ˈsɛɲːis]
Adjective
sēgnis (neuter sēgne, comparative sēgnior, superlative sēgnissimus, adverb sēgniter); third-declension two-termination adjective
- slow, tardy, torpid, inactive, unenergetic, lazy
- Synonyms: dēses, iners, piger, ignāvus, socors, murcidus, languidus
- Antonyms: vīvus, strēnuus, impiger, alacer, ācer
Declension
Third-declension two-termination adjective.
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masc./Fem. | Neuter | Masc./Fem. | Neuter | |
| Nominative | sēgnis | sēgne | sēgnēs | sēgnia | |
| Genitive | sēgnis | sēgnium | |||
| Dative | sēgnī | sēgnibus | |||
| Accusative | sēgnem | sēgne | sēgnēs sēgnīs | sēgnia | |
| Ablative | sēgnī | sēgnibus | |||
| Vocative | sēgnis | sēgne | sēgnēs | sēgnia | |
Derived terms
- insēgnis
- persēgnis
- sēgnē
- sēgnescō
- sēgnipēs
- sēgnitās
- sēgniter
- sēgnitia
- sēgnitiēs
References
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “sēgnis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 552–553
- Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*suk(k)ōn-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 491
Further reading
- “segnis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “segnis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- segnis 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)
- segnis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Rix, Helmut, editor (2001) Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 519