ignis

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈiŋ.nis]

Adjective

ignis

1. masculine plural of igni

Latin

ignis.

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥gʷnís (“fire”). The exact phonological development of this term is slightly unclear. De Vaan suggests that Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥gʷnís yielded *Həngni-, whence *engni- or *ingni-, which dissimilated into *egni- or *igni-. This term constitutes an issue for the Latin sound law *CCCC > CaCCC, leading Schrijver to argue that *h₁ must have lost phonemic status by the time of epenthesis. Thus, Schrijver ultimately suggests a development *h₁n̥gʷni- > *h₁əngʷni- > *əngʷni- > ignis. In any case, the term displaced Proto-Italic *pūr.

Cognate with Lithuanian ugnis, Sanskrit अग्नि (agní), Hittite 𒀀𒀝𒉌𒅖 (akniš) (an Indo-Iranian borrowing), Old Church Slavonic огнь (ognĭ) and Old Prussian ugnis.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɪŋ.nɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈiɲ.ɲis]

Noun

ignis m (genitive ignis); third declension

1. fire

   ferrō ignīque ― with iron and with fire

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 8.420–421:

     striduntque cavernis / stricturae Chalybum et fornacibus ignis anhelat

     Chalybian ores hiss in the caverns, and from the furnace mouths puff the hot-panting fires

2. (metonymic) beacon, signal by fire

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem, ablative singular in -ī or occasionally -e).

	singular	plural
nominative	ignis	ignēs
genitive	ignis	ignium
dative	ignī	ignibus
accusative	ignem	ignēs ignīs
ablative	ignī igne	ignibus
vocative	ignis	ignēs

Derived terms

• ignēscō
• igneus
• igniārius
• ignicolor
• igniculus
• ignifer
• ignifluus
• ignigenus
• igniō
• ignipotēns
• ignivagus
• ignivomus

Descendants

• → Italian: igne

References

• “ignis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ignis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "ignis", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “ignis”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to light, make a fire: ignem facere, accendere
    
  • to set fire to houses: ignem tectis inferre, subicere
    
  • to take fire: ignem concipere, comprehendere
    
  • to make up, stir up a fire: ignem excitare (pro Mur. 25. 51)
    
  • to keep up a fire: ignem alere
    
  • to perish in the flames: igni cremari, necari
    
  • to raise an alarm of fire: ignem conclamare
    
  • the wind spread the conflagration: ventus ignem distulit (B. G. 5. 43)
    
  • an eruption of Etna: eruptiones ignium Aetnaeorum
    
  • Vesuvius is discharging flame: Vesuvius evomit (more strongly eructat) ignes
    
  • to threaten with fire and sword: minitari alicui igni ferroque (Phil. 13. 9. 21)
    
  • to proscribe a person, declare him an outlaw: aqua et igni interdicere alicui
    
  • to ravage with fire and sword: omnia ferro ignique, ferro atque igni or ferro flammaque vastare
    
  • to set fire to the siege-works: ignem inferre operibus (B. C. 2. 14)
    
• Leppänen, Ville (2019), Ablaut and the Latin Verb: Aspects of Morphophonological Change (PhD Dissertation)‎^[2], Munich: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, →DOI, page 136: “*h₁gʷni- ‘fire’ > *engni- > *eŋni- > Lat. ignis”