LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

angustus

angustus (feminine angusta, neuter angustum, comparative angustior, superlative angustissimus)
Classical[aŋˈɡʊs.tʊs]Ecclesiastical[aŋˈɡus.tus]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectivenarrow, close, contracted, constricted, confined, small, not spacious
    Prō multitūdine autem hominum et prō glōriā bellī atque fortitūdinis angustōs sē fīnēs habēre arbitrābantur, quī in longitūdinem mīlia passuum CCXL, in lātitūdinem CLXXX patēbant.However, on account of the great number of people and their reputation for war and bravery, they thought that they had narrow boundaries, which extended 240 [Roman] miles in length and 180 in width.c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 1.2
  2. adjectivenarrow, strait
  3. adjectivefigurativelyshort, brief
    Efficit angustos nec mihi bruma dies.Winter does not make the days short (for me).8 CE – 12 CE, Ovidius, Tristia 5

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

nōn lātus; via angusta.
angustus -a -um — in Mille Verba, ch. Via et Iter

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Angustus · Arctus · Densus · Spissus

1. Angustus and arctus relate to space itself, and to the proximity of its enclosing limits; densus and spissus, to things existing in space, and to their proximity to one another. The angustum (ἐγγυστός) is bounded only by lines, and forms mostly an oblong, narrow, opp. to latus, Cic. Att. iv. 29, like στενός; the arctum (from arcere, εἴργω) is fenced in by lists, walls, or mounds, and forms mostly a square or circle, and so forth, close, in opp. to laxus, Cic. Orat. 25, like στενωπός. The clavus angustus can therefore never be arctus. Mel. iii. 2, 8. Rhenus ad dextram primo angustus, et sui similis, post ingens lacus Flevo dicitur . . . fitque iterum arctior, iterumque fluvius emittitur, in which passage the banks of the Rhine are considered only as lines, or as walls, 3. Densus (from ἀδινός? or θαμά?) denotes objects only as pressed near to one another, and without any observable gaps, in opp. to rarus, like δασύς and θαμειός: spissus, as pressed close into one another, and without any intervals between, in opp. to solutus, loose, like πυκνός and συχνός. In densus the principal notion is, the rich abundance of objects, which have no need to keep far apart, if they are to fill a wide space; in spissus, the want of empty space, from all the spaces between objects being filled up, owing to their being crowded together. (iv. 431.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeangustusangustaangustum
genitiveangustīangustaeangustī
dativeangustōangustaeangustō
accusativeangustumangustamangustum
ablativeangustōangustāangustō
vocativeangusteangustaangustum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeangustīangustaeangusta
genitiveangustōrumangustārumangustōrum
dativeangustīsangustīsangustīs
accusativeangustōsangustāsangusta
ablativeangustīsangustīsangustīs
vocativeangustīangustaeangusta

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

vocabulum angustius valet
the word has a narrow meaning.
fides tota Italia est angusta
credit is low throughout Italy.

angustus, a, um. adj. v. ango,
I. narrow, strait, esp. of local relations, close, contracted, small, not spacious (syn.: artus, brevis, contractus; opp. latus, Cic. Ac. 2, 29, 92).
I. Lit.: fretus, Lucr. 1, 720: Angustum per iter, id. 5, 1132; so Sall. J. 92, 7, and Vulg. Judith, 4, 6; 7, 5: pontes angusti, Cic. Leg. 3, 17: domus, id. Fin. 1, 20, 65: fauces portūs angustissimae, Caes. B. C. 1, 25: fines, id. B. G. 1, 2 Herz.: cellae, Hor. S. 1, 8, 8: rima, id. Ep. 1, 7, 29: Principis angustā Caprearum in rupe sedentis, on the narrow rock, Juv. 10, 93 Herm., where Jahn reads augusta, both readings yielding an apposite sense: porta, Vulg. Matt. 7, 13; ib. Luc. 13, 24 al.—Subst.: angustum, i, n., narrowness: per angustum, Lucr. 4, 530: angusta viarum, Verg. A. 2, 332: pontes et viarum angusta, Tac. H. 4, 35.—
II. Trop.
A. In angustum concludere, adducere, deducere, etc., to reduce to a strait, i. e. to restrain, confine, etc.: ab illā immensā societate humani generis in exiguum angustumque concluditur, Cic. Off. 1, 17: amicitia ex infinitā societate generis humani ita contracta est et adducta in angustum, ut, etc., id. Am. 5.—Of the passions, to curb, restrain, moderate: perturbationes animi contrahere et in angustum deducere, Cic. Ac. 1, 10.—
B. Of other things: clavus angustus, the narrow purple stripe upon the tunic, v. clavus: spiritus, short, difficult, Cic. de Or. 1, 61: odor rosae, not diffused far, Plin. 21, 4, 10, § 14.—Once also of the point of an arrow = acutus, Cels. 7, 5, n. 2.—
C. Of time, short, brief: angustus dies, Ov. Tr. 5, 10, 8; Stat. Th. 1, 442: nox, Ov. Am. 3, 7, 25: tempus, Luc. 4, 447.—
D. Of means of living, and the like, pinching, scanty, needy: pauperies, Hor. C. 3, 2, 1: res angusta domi, Juv. 3, 164: mensa, Sen. Thyest. 452: domus, poor, i. e. built without much expense, Tac. A. 2, 33.—
E. Of other external relations of life, difficult, critical, uncertain: rebus angustis animosus atque Fortis adpare, Hor. C. 2, 10, 21: cum fides totā Italiā esset angustior, was weakened, Caes. B. C. 3, 1.—Subst.: angustum, i, n., a difficult, critical, condition, danger: in angustum cogi, * Ter. Heaut. 4, 2, 2: res est in angusto, the condition is perilous, Caes. B. G. 2, 25: spes est in angusto, hope is feeble, Cels. 8, 4.—
F. Of mind or character, narrow, base, low, mean-spirited: nihil est tam angusti animi, tam parvi, quam amare divitias, Cic. Off. 1, 20, 68: animi angusti et demissi, id. Pis. 24, 57: ecce autem alii minuti et angusti, aut omnia semper desperantes, aut malevoli, invidi, etc., id. Fin. 1, 18, 61.—
G. Of learned investigations that lay too much stress upon little things, subtle, hair-splitting: minutae angustaeque concertationes, Cic. de Or. 3, 31: pungunt (Stoici) quasi aculeis, interrogatiunculis angustis, id. Fin. 4, 3, 7.—
H. Of discourse, brief, simple: et angusta quaedam et concisa, et alia est dilatata et fusa oratio, Cic. Or. 56, 187: Intonet angusto pectore Callimachus, i.e. in simple style, Prop. 2, 1, 40.—Adv.: angustē.
I. Lit., of space, quantity, or number, within narrow limits, closely, hardly: recepissem te, nisi anguste sederem, if I were not in close quarters, Cic. ap. Macr. S. 2, 3: anguste putare vitem, to prune close, Col. 4, 16, 1; so, anguste aliquid deputare, id. 4, 22, 3: quā (re frumentariā) anguste utebatur, in small quantity, Caes. B. C. 3, 16: tantum navium repperit, ut anguste quindecim milia militum, quingentos equites transportare possent, = vix, scarcely fifteen thousand, id. ib. 3, 2.—Comp.: angustius pabulabantur, within narrower range, Caes. B. C. 1, 59: aliae (arbores) radices angustius diffundunt, Varr. R. R. 1, 37, 5: quanto sit angustius imperitatum, Tac. A. 4, 4: eo anno frumentum propter siccitates angustius provenerat, more scantily, Caes. B. G. 5, 24.—Sup.: Caesar (nitebatur) ut quam angustissime Pompeium contineret, Caes. B. C. 3, 45: furunculus angustissime praecisus, Col. 4, 24, 17. —
II. Trop.
A. In gen., within narrow limits: anguste intraque civiles actiones coërcere rhetoricam, Quint. 2, 15, 36.— Comp.: haud scio an recte ea virtus frugalitas appellari possit, quod angustius apud Graecos valet, qui frugi homines χρησίμους appellant, id est tantum modo utiles, has a narrower meaning, Cic. Tusc. 3, 8, 16: Reliqui habere se videntur angustius, enatant tamen etc., seem to be more hampered, id. ib. 5, 31, 87.—
B. Esp. of speaking or writing, closely, briefly, concisely, without diffuseness: anguste scribere, Cic. Mur. 13, 28: anguste et exiliter dicere, id. Brut. 84, 289: anguste disserere, id. Part. Or. 41, 139: presse et anguste rem definire, id. Or. 33, 117: anguste materiem terminare, Quint. 7, 4, 40.—Comp.: Pergit idem et urget angustius, Cic. N. D. 2, 8, 22: concludere brevius angustiusque, id. ib. 2, 7, 20.

Origins

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- (“narrow, tight”) via a neuter s-stem noun *h₂enǵʰ-os (“narrowness”) combined with the adjective-forming suffix *-tós (equivalent to -tus). Comparative data does not establish when the adjective was derived, but its form would hypothetically correspond to *h₂enǵʰostos in Proto-Indo-European and to *angostos in Proto-Italic or Pre-Latin: this became angustus by the Latin sound change of vowel reduction, which replaced *o with /u/ in non-initial closed syllables. The neuter s-stem noun (Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ-os, Proto-Italic *angos) would have evolved regularly in Classical Latin to *angus, *angeris if it had survived. Another word potentially derived from this noun is the name of the goddess Angerōna. The root is also found in Latin angō and angor, and in German eng, Sanskrit अंहु (áṃhu), Old Church Slavonic ѫзъкъ (ǫzŭkŭ). For the ending, compare onustus, venustus.

Borrowings
  • Englishangust
  • Frenchanguste
  • Portugueseangusto
Balkano-Romance
  • Romanianîngust
  • Aromanianngustu
  • Albanianngushtë
Italo-Romance
  • Italianangusto
Gallo-Romance
  • Occitanangost
  • Gasconengousfrom Occitan angost
Ibero-Romance
  • Spanishangosto
  • Galicianangostofrom Old Galician-Portuguese angosto

Quick answers

What does angustus mean in Latin?
angustus, a adjective, means “narrow, close, contracted, constricted, confined, small, not spacious; narrow, strait; short, brief”.
How do you pronounce angustus?
In classical Latin, [aŋˈɡʊs.tʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [aŋˈɡus.tus].