Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
segnis. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
segnis, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
segnis in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
segnis you have here. The definition of the word
segnis will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
segnis, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
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
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.
Derived terms
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 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
- ^ Guus Kroonen (2013) “*suk(k)ōn-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, 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