LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

ignāvus

ignāvus (feminine ignāva, neuter ignāvum, comparative ignāvior, superlative ignāvissimus)
Classical[ɪŋˈnaː.wʊs]Ecclesiastical[iɲˈɲaː.vus]

Meaning

  1. adjectivelazy, slothful, inactive, sluggish
    Est prope Cimmerios longo spelunca recessu,Near the Cimmerians there is a cave with long recess, a hollow mountain, the home and sanctuary of sluggish Sleep.8 CE, Ovidius, Metamorphoses XI.593
  2. adjectiveunproductive, idle
    [...] aut agmine factō[…] or by banding as an army [the bees] drive the drones, an idle herd, from the hive29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.434–435
  3. adjectivecowardly

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeignāvusignāvaignāvum
genitiveignāvīignāvaeignāvī
dativeignāvōignāvaeignāvō
accusativeignāvumignāvamignāvum
ablativeignāvōignāvāignāvō
vocativeignāveignāvaignāvum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeignāvīignāvaeignāva
genitiveignāvōrumignāvārumignāvōrum
dativeignāvīsignāvīsignāvīs
accusativeignāvōsignāvāsignāva
ablativeignāvīsignāvīsignāvīs
vocativeignāvīignāvaeignāva

ignāvus, a, um, adj. in-gnavus, navus,
I. inactive, lazy, slothful, idle, sluggish, listless, without spirit, cowardly, dastardly (syn.: iners, socors; opp.: strenuus, alacer, fortis).
I. Lit., of living beings (freq. and class.): homines, Plaut. Rud. 3, 5, 49: si non fecero Ei male aliquo pacto, me esse dicito ignavissimum, id. Bacch. 3, 6, 27: quid ergo ille ignavissumus mi latitabat? id. Trin. 4, 2, 82; 1, 2, 128; id. Poen. 4, 2, 24: homo inertior, ignavior, magis vir inter mulieres proferri non potest, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 78, § 192: ignavus miles ac timidus, id. Tusc. 2, 23, 54; cf.: compertum habeo, milites neque ex ignavo strenuum neque fortem ex timido exercitum oratione imperatoris fieri, Sall. C. 58, 1: feroces et inquieti inter socios, ignavi et imbelles inter hostes, Liv. 26, 2, 11: ignavissimus ac fugacissimus hostis, id. 5, 28, 8: ignavissimi homines (opp.: fortissimi viri), Sall. C. 12 fin.: canis Ignavus adversum lupos, Hor. Epod. 6, 2: (apes) Ignavaeque fame et contracto frigore pigrae, Verg. G. 4, 259: ignavum, fucos, pecus a praesepibus arcent, id. A. 1, 435: genus ignavum quod lecto gaudet, Juv. 7, 105.— Subst.: cedentibus ignavis et imbecillis, Cic. Rep. 1, 32: in bello poena ignavis ab imperatoribus constituitur, id. Caecin. 16, 46: in victoria vel ignavis gloriari licet, adversae res etiam bonos detractant, Sall. J. 53 fin.; cf.: gloriam, honorem, imperium bonus ignavus aeque sibi exoptant, id. C. 11, 2: favimus ignavo, Ov. Am. 3, 2, 73.—
(b). With gen.: legiones operum et laboris ignavae, Tac. A. 11, 18; cf.: possis ignavus haberi et subiti casus improvidus, si, etc., Juv. 3, 272.
II. Transf.
A. Of inanim. and abstr. things (mostly poet. and in post-Aug. prose): quae vitia non sunt senectutis, sed inertis, ignavae, somniculosae senectutis, Cic. de Sen. 11, 36: nemora, i. e. unfruitful, Verg. G. 2, 208: globus, i. e. immovable, Plin. 2, 8, 6, § 33; cf. gravitas, Ov. M. 2, 821: stagna jacentis aquae, Luc. 5, 442: ignavo stupuerunt verba palato, i. e. speechless, Ov. Am. 2, 6, 47: mora, id. A. A. 1, 186: anni, spent in idleness, id. Am. 1, 15, 1; cf. otia, id. Tr. 1, 7, 25: septima lux, i. e. the Jewish Sabbath, Juv. 14, 106: ignavum conferunt stipendium, only money, not soldiers, arms, etc., Vell. 2, 39, 1: sucus meconium vocatur, multum opio ignavior, weaker, less efficacious, Plin. 20, 18, 76, § 202: quorundam flos tantum jucundus, reliquae partes ignavae, ut violae ac rosae, without smell, id. 21, 7, 18, § 37: cornicula ante oculos ignava, i. e. of no use, id. 11, 28, 34, § 100: ignavum est rediturae parcere vitae, Luc. 1, 492.—
B. Of things that produce inactivity or indolence, that renders slothful or inactive: nec nos impediet illa ignava ratio, quae dicitur: appellatur enim quidam a philosophis ἀργὸς λόγος, cui si pareamus, nihil omnino agamus in vita. Sic enim interrogant: Si fatum tibi est, etc.... Recte genus hoc interrogationis ignavum et iners nominatum est, quod eadem ratione omnis e vita tolletur actio, relaxing, Cic. Fat. 12, 28 sq.: frigus, Ov. M. 2, 763: aestus, id. ib. 7, 529: dolor, Plin. 11, 18, 20, § 64.—Hence, adv. in two forms, ignāvē and ignā-vĭter.
(a). Ignave, sluggishly, slothfully, without spirit: ne quid abjecte, ne quid timide, ne quid ignave, ne quid serviliter muliebriterve faciamus, Cic. Tusc. 2, 23, 55: dicere multa, flatly, tamely, Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 67.—
(b). Ignaviter, lazily, sluggishly, tardily: ignaviter quaerere, Lucil. ap. Non. 513, 14; Quadrig. ap. Prisc. p. 1010 P.; Hirt. ap. Cic. Att. 15, 6, 2.—
b. Comp.: carpere ignavius herbas, Verg. G. 3, 465.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinignāvus

Latin (g)nāvus Latin ignāvus From in- + (g)nāvus.

Quick answers

What does ignāvus mean in Latin?
ignāvus, a adjective, means “lazy, slothful, inactive, sluggish; unproductive, idle; cowardly”.
How do you pronounce ignāvus?
In classical Latin, [ɪŋˈnaː.wʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [iɲˈɲaː.vus].
Where does ignāvus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *né → Proto-Indo-European *n̥- → Proto-Italic *n̥- → Latin ignāvus.