LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

pāgānus1

pāgānus (feminine pāgāna, neuter pāgānum)
Classical[paːˈɡaː.nʊs]Ecclesiastical[paˈɡaː.nus]

Meaning

  1. adjectiveof or pertaining to the countryside, rural, rustic
  2. adjectivebroadlyrustic, unlearned
  3. Medieval Latinadjectivepagan, heathen

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativepāgānuspāgānapāgānum
genitivepāgānīpāgānaepāgānī
dativepāgānōpāgānaepāgānō
accusativepāgānumpāgānampāgānum
ablativepāgānōpāgānāpāgānō
vocativepāgānepāgānapāgānum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativepāgānīpāgānaepāgāna
genitivepāgānōrumpāgānārumpāgānōrum
dativepāgānīspāgānīspāgānīs
accusativepāgānōspāgānāspāgāna
ablativepāgānīspāgānīspāgānīs
vocativepāgānīpāgānaepāgāna

Lewis & Short A Latin Dictionary, 1879

pāgānus, a, um, adj. pagus.
I. Of or belonging to the country or to a village, rustic: PORTICVS, Inscr. (A. U. C. 659) Orell. 3793: lex, Plin. 28, 2, 5, § 28: foci, Ov. F. 1, 670.—
B. Subst.: pāgānus, i, m., a countryman, peasant, villager, rustic: nulli pagani aut montani, Cic. Dom. 28, 74: pagani vel decuriones, Cod. Th. 7, 21, 2.—
II. Opposed to military, civil, civic: vel paganum est peculium vel castrense, Cod. Just. 3, 28, 37.—As subst.: pāgānus, i, m., a civilian, a citizen, Tac. H. 3, 24: paganorum turba, Suet. Galb. 19: milites et pagani, Plin. Ep. 10, 18, 2; Juv. 16, 33.—
III. Transf., rustic, unlearned: cultus, Plin. Ep. 7, 25, 6; cf. semipaganus.—
B. In eccl. Lat. (like gentilis) for heathen, pagan (opp. Jewish or Christian); and subst., a heathen, a pagan: ritus cultusque, Cod. Th. 16, 7, 2: sacerdotales paganae superstitionis, ib. 16, 10, 20; Ter. Cor. Mil. 11: deorum falsorum multorumque cultores paganos vocamus, Aug. Retract. 2, 43; Hier. in Psa. 41: ex locorum agrestium compitis et pagis pagani vocantur, Oros. 1 praef.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *-ānos Latin -ānus Latin paganus From pāgus (“area outside of a city, countryside”) + -ānus (“of or pertaining to”, adjective-forming suffix). Compare typologically agrestis, rūsticus. See cīvīlis for more.

Descendants
  • Catalanpagà
  • Frenchpaïen
  • Italianpagano
  • Occitanpagan
  • Portuguesepagãofrom Old Galician-Portuguese pagão
  • Romanianpăgân
  • Spanishpagano
  • Englishpagan
  • Romanianpoganfrom Serbo-Croatian pogan
  • Anglo-Normanpaien
noun · masculinesecond declension
pāgānus2
pāgānus m (genitive pāgānī)
Classical[paːˈɡaː.nʊs]Ecclesiastical[paˈɡaː.nus]

Meaning

  1. villager, countryman
    57 BCE, Cicero, De domo sua 28.74
  2. civilian (as opposed to soldier)
    61 CE – c. 112 CE, Plinius Minor, Epistulae 10.18
  3. EcclesiasticalLatinheathen, pagan

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepāgānuspāgānī
genitivepāgānīpāgānōrum
dativepāgānōpāgānīs
accusativepāgānumpāgānōs
ablativepāgānōpāgānīs
vocativepāgānepāgānī

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *-ānos Latin -ānus Latin paganus From pāgus (“area outside of a city, countryside”) + -ānus (“of or pertaining to”, adjective-forming suffix). Compare typologically agrestis, rūsticus. See cīvīlis for more.