ignavus

Latin

Etymology

From in- +‎ (g)nāvus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /iɡˈnaː.u̯us/, [ɪŋˈnäːu̯ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /iɲˈɲa.vus/, [iɲˈɲäːvus]

Adjective

ignāvus (feminine ignāva, neuter ignāvum, comparative ignāvior, superlative ignāvissimus); first/second-declension adjective

1. lazy, slothful, inactive, sluggish

   Synonyms: dēses, iners, sēgnis, piger, socors, murcidus, languidus

   Antonyms: vīvus, strēnuus, impiger, alacer, ācer

2. unproductive, idle
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.434–435:

     [...] aut agmine factō
     ignāvum fūcōs pecus ā praesēpibus arcent

     […] or by banding as an army [the bees] drive the drones, an idle herd, from the hive

3. cowardly

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ignāvus	ignāva	ignāvum		ignāvī	ignāvae	ignāva
genitive	ignāvī	ignāvae	ignāvī		ignāvōrum	ignāvārum	ignāvōrum
dative	ignāvō	ignāvae	ignāvō		ignāvīs
accusative	ignāvum	ignāvam	ignāvum		ignāvōs	ignāvās	ignāva
ablative	ignāvō	ignāvā	ignāvō		ignāvīs
vocative	ignāve	ignāva	ignāvum		ignāvī	ignāvae	ignāva

Derived terms

• īgnāvē
• īgnāvia

References

• “ignavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ignavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ignavus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.