noun · neutersecond declension
ingenium
ingenium n (genitive ingeniī or ingenī)
Classical[ɪŋˈɡɛ.ni.ũː]Ecclesiastical[in̠ʲˈd͡ʒɛː.ni.um]
№ 387 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- neuterinnate or natural quality, natural character; nature
Nam quī cum ingeniīs cōnflīctātur eiūs modī / neque commovētur animus in eā rē tamen, / sciās posse habēre iam ipsum vītae modum.
For whoever contends with characters of that sort, and yet his mind is untempted by the opportunity, you may know that he can now possess the measure of his own life.166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 93–95 - neuterdisposition, temper, inclination
- neuterintelligence, natural capacity
- neutertalent, ability, art
dēficit ingenium, maiōraque vīribus urgent
My ability is lacking, and what urges me on is greater than my strength.8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 2.123 - neutera person of genius, a genius, a highly skilled or accomplished person
Īdem accidat necesse est iīs quī nūllius sē ingeniō familiāriter applicant, sed omnia cursim et properantēs trānsmittunt.
[Random wanderings dissipate one’s life, and:] The same must necessarily happen to those who do not intimately devote themselves to any one great [author], but hurry quickly through every [book] they skim over.c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca Minor, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 1.2.2 - Medieval Latinneutermachine, engine
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
vīs mentis quā homō nova invenit.ingenium -ī n — in Mille Verba, Aula Rēgia
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Ingenium · Natura · Indoles
Ingenium and natura denote the disposition, as far as it constitutes the immovable ground of human individuality, and is susceptible of no change; ingenium, more with reference to the faculties of the mind, natura to the feelings of the heart; whereas indoles denotes the disposition, as far as it constitutes only the beginning of individuality, and is susceptible of improvement. (vi. 172.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | ingenium | ingenia |
| genitive | ingeniī ingenī | ingeniōrum |
| dative | ingeniō | ingeniīs |
| accusative | ingenium | ingenia |
| ablative | ingeniō | ingeniīs |
| vocative | ingenium | ingenia |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- ingenio valere
- to be gifted, talented.
- ingenii acumen
- penetration; sagacity.
- ingenio valere
- to be talented, gifted.
- ingenium acuere
- to sharpen the wits.
- ingenio abundare
- to be very talented.
- natura et ingenium
- natural gifts.
- ingenium, cogitatio
- imagination.
- ingenii vis or celeritas
- vivid, lively imagination.
11 more phrases
- vir magno ingenio praeditus
- a man of ability.
- summo ingenio praeditum esse
- to possess rich mental endowments.
- vir magno ingenio, ingeniosus
- a man of ability.
- magna est exspectatio ingenii tui
- we expect a great deal from a man of your calibre.
- ingenii tarditas (opp. celeritas)
- dulness of intellect.
- ingenii infirmitas or imbecillitas
- weakmindedness.
- animi, ingenii cultus (not cultura)
- mental culture.
- animum, ingenium excolere (not colere)
- to cultivate the mind.
- de ingenio moribusque alicuius exponere
- to make a character-sketch of a person.
- sibi or ingenio suo indulgere (Nep. Chabr. 3)
- to indulge one's caprice.
- natura et mores; vita moresque; indoles animi ingeniique; or simply ingenium, indoles, natura, mores
- character.
ingĕnĭum, ii, n. in-geno, from gigno,
I. innate or natural quality, nature.
I. In gen. (so mostly poet.; in Sall. and in postAug. prose;
not in Cic. or Cæs.): pro ingenio ego me liberum esse ratus sum, pro imperio tuo tibi servire aequom censeo, Plaut. Trin. 2, 2, 22: ite in frundiferos locos Ingenio arbusta ubi nata sunt, non obsita, by their own nature, Naev. ap. Non. 323, 1 (Trag. Rel. v. 28 Rib.); so, loci, Sall. H. 3, 18 Dietsch: locorum hominumque ingenia, Liv. 28, 12, 11; Tac. A. 6, 41; id. H. 1, 51; Flor. 2, 6, 16 al.: terrae, Liv. 37, 54, 21: montis, Tac. H. 2, 4; cf.: campi suopte ingenio humentes, id. ib. 5, 14: arvorum, Verg. G. 2, 177; and, portūs, Sil. 14, 283: arbores sui cujusque ingenii poma ferunt, Col. 3, 1, 2: lactis ingenia et proprietates, Gell. 12, 1, 14: ingenium velox igni, Sev. Aetn. 214: crines ingenio suo flexi, naturally, Petr. 126: ut magistratus imperio suo vehemens mansueto permitteretur ingenio, Liv. 2, 30, 4; cf.: cum honesta suopte ingenio peterentur, in consequence of its own nature, Tac. A. 3, 26: mitis ingenio, id. ib. 6, 15: cunctator ingenio, id. ib. 15, 1: ingenio trux, id. H. 1, 21.— Rarely of beasts: mitior ad feras bestias, praecipitia ingenia sortitas, Curt. 8, 1, 35.— II. In partic., of persons.
A. Natural disposition, temper, mode of thinking, character, bent, inclination:
feci ego ingenium meum, have acted out, Plaut. Merc. 4, 1, 2: ita ingenium meumst, id. Am. 3, 2, 18: ut ingenium est omnium hominum ab labore proclive ad lubidinem, Ter. And. 1, 1, 50: liberale, id. ib. 4, 5, 59: pium ac pudicum, id. Hec. 1, 2, 77: durum atque inexorabile, id. Phorm. 3, 2, 12: inhumanum, id. Eun. 5, 2, 41: lene in liberos, id. Heaut. 1, 1, 99: utinam nunc matrescam ingenio, Pac. Con. Rel. v. 139 Rib. (1 Rib., maturescam): mobile, Plin. Ep. 2, 11, 22: cicur et mansuetum, Varr. L. L. 7, § 91 Müll.: inverecundum animi, Cic. Inv. 1, 45, 83: vera loqui etsi meum ingenium non moneret. Liv. 3, 68, 9: ingenio suo vivere, id. 3, 36, 1: redire ad ingenium, to return to one's natural bent, to one's old courses, Ter. Ad. 1, 1, 46: Volscis levatis metu suum rediit ingenium, Liv. 2, 22, 3: quae maxime ad muliebre ingenium efficaces preces sunt, id. 1, 9, 16: vanum dictatoris, id. 1, 27, 1: mitis ingenii juvenem, id. 1, 46, 4: Turni ferox, id. 1, 51, 7: temperare suum, to control his temper, id. 8, 36, 5: horrida, Curt. 4, 6, 3: molliora, id. 5, 6, 18: humana, id. 5, 10, 13: felix, Sen. Ep. 95, 36: rapax, id. ad Helv. 17, 4: atrox, Tac. A. 4, 50: procax, id. H. 3, 32: ingenium ingeni, in Plautus, signifies peculiarity of disposition, Stich. 1, 2, 69.—2. Concr. collect.:
tanto corruptius iter immixtis histrionibus et spadonum gregibus et cetero Neronianae aulae ingenio, the people who gave character to the court, Tac. H. 2, 71.— B. With respect to intelligence.
1. Natural capacity, talents, parts, abilities, genius:
docilitas, memoria, quae fere appellantur uno ingenii nomine, Cic. Fin. 5, 13, 36: ingenium ad fingendum, id. Font. 14, 30: excellens ac singulare, id. de Or. 2, 74, 298: vir acerrimo ingenio, id. Or. 5, 18: cujus tanta vis ingenii est, ut, etc., id. de Or. 2, 74, 299: tardum, id. ib. 2, 27, 117: acutum aut retusum, id. de Div. 1, 36, 72: eximium, id. Tusc. 5, 24, 68: praestantissimum, id. Fin. 2, 16, 51: magnum, id. Ac. 2, 1, 1: illustre, id. Cael. 1, 1: oratorium, Tac. Dial. 10: pulcherrimum et maximum, Plin. Ep. 8, 12, 4: hebetatum, fractum, contusum, id. ib. 8, 14, 9: celeres ingenii motus, Cic. de Or. 1, 25, 113: ingenii acies, id. ib. 3, 5, 20: ingenii lumen, id. Brut. 15, 59: ingenii vis, id. Phil. 5, 18, 49: ingenii vena, Hor. C. 2, 18, 9: ingenii vigor, Ov. M. 8, 254: ingenii celeritas, Nep. Eum. 1: ingenii docilitas, id. Att. 1: ingenio abundare, Cic. Fam. 4, 8, 1: ingenio valere, Quint. 1, 8, 8: ingenio divino esse, Cic. Ac. 2, 36, 117: ingenio hebeti esse, id. Phil. 10, 8, 17: in eo ingenium ejus elucere videbatis, id. Cael. 19, 45: colere et imbuere ingenium artibus, Plaut. Trin. 2, 2, 16: acuere, Quint. 1, 4, 7: alere, id. 1, 8, 8: exercere multiplici variāque materiā, id. 2, 4, 20: versabatur in hoc nostro studio cum ingenio, with cleverness, Cic. Fam. 13, 10, 2; so, cum ingenio, Dig. 1, 16, 9: ingenii memoria immortalis est, Sen. Polyb. 18, 2.— Plur.: acutiora ingenia et ad intellegendum aptiora eorum, qui, etc., Cic. N. D. 2, 16, 42: aliae (partes agrorum) quae acuta ingenia gignant, aliae quae retusa, intellects, id. Div. 1, 36, 79 fin. — 2. Transf.
a. A genius, i. e. a man of genius, a clever, ingenious person:
excepi voluntatem tam excellens ingenium fuisse in civitate, Cic. Brut. 40, 147; id. Rep. 2, 1, 2; Liv. 41, 4, 3: nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit, Sen. Tranq. An. 17, 10. — Plur.: ut saepe summa ingenia in occulto latent, Plaut. Capt. 1, 2, 62: decora, Tac. A. 1, 1: magna, id. H. 1, 1: nostra (i. e. oratores, id. Dial. 1; id. Agr. 2; Sen. Ep. 2, 1; id. ad Polyb. 27, 1: candidissimus omnium magnorum ingeniorum aestimator Livius, id. Suas. 6, 22: ingenia et artes vel maxime fovit, Suet. Vesp. 18; id. Aug. 89: id in magnis animis ingeniisque plerumque contingit, Cic. Off. 1, 22, 74.—b. Of things, an invention, a clever thought:
exquisita ingenia cenarum, Plin. Pan. 49, 7; cf. Tac. H. 3, 28: noctium suarum ingenia (= flagitiosae libidinis inventiones), voluptuous inventions, id. A. 16, 20.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
ingenium ī, n
1 in+GEN-, innate quality, nature, temperament, constitution: locorum hominumque ingenia, L.: arvorum, V.: ferae bestiae, praecipitia ingenia sortitae, Cu.—Natural disposition, temper, character, bent, inclination: est ingenio bono, T.: in liberos lene, T.: inverecundum animi: vera loqui etsi meum ingenium non moneret, L.: redire ad ingenium, natural bent, T.: Volscis levatis metu suum rediit ingenium, L.: virile, S.: mitis ingeni iuvenem, L.: temperare suum, temper, L.: eiusdem ingeni est, tradere, etc.—Natural capacity, talents, parts, abilities, genius: quid abest homini? an ingenium?: ingenio abundare: excellens ac singulare: praestantissimum: durum, H.: in promptu habere, S.: celeres ingeni motūs: vigor, O.: docilitas, N.: qui ingenio parum possum: ingeni acuendi causā: ea vestris ingeniis committo: ingenia ad intellegendum aptiora.—A nature, character: ut magistratus mansueto permitteretur ingenio, L.—A genius, man of genius, clever person: excellens: id in magnis ingeniis plerumque contingit: idem ad res diversissimas habilius, L.: Praemia ingeniis posuere, i. e. poets, V.
Origins
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
- Proto-Italic*en
- Proto-Italic*en-
- Latiningenium
Latin gignō Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -iusnom. Latin -ium Latin ingenium From in- + gignō + -ium.
Gallo-Romance
- Catalanenginy
- Catalanginy
- Occitanengenh
- Occitangenh
- Old Frenchengin
Borrowings
- Romanianingeniu
- Spanishingenio
- Catalaningenifrom Spanish ingenio
Ibero-Romance
- Portugueseengenhofrom Old Galician-Portuguese engẽnho
- Spanishengeño
- Galicianenxeñofrom Old Galician-Portuguese engẽnho
Insular Romance
- Sardinianingeniu
- Logudoreseengiafrom Sardinian ingeniu
- Logudoreseenzafrom Sardinian ingeniu
- Logudoresevenzafrom Sardinian ingeniu
- Nuoreseinzenzufrom Sardinian ingeniu
- Nuoreseinzerzufrom Sardinian ingeniu
- Nuoreseirgenzufrom Sardinian ingeniu
- Nuoreseirghentzufrom Sardinian ingeniu
- Nuoreseirghenzufrom Sardinian ingeniu
- Nuoreseirzenzufrom Sardinian ingeniu
Italo-Romance
- Italianingegno
- Neapolitanngegno
- Neapolitanngegnio
- Neapolitangniegno
- Siciliangnegnu
Rhaeto-Romance
- Romanshindschegn
- Romanshinschign
Gallo-Italic
- Lombardingègn
- Piedmonteseangign