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

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

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
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