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 Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈseːɡ.nis/, [ˈs̠eːŋnɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈseɲ.ɲis/, [ˈsɛɲːis]

Adjective

sēgnis (neuter sēgne, comparative sēgnior, superlative sēgnissimus, adverb sēgniter); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. 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

1. 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
2. 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