pinguis

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *pīngwis, from Proto-Indo-European *peyH- (“fat”), maybe contaminated by *bʰenǵʰ- (“fat, thick”).

Cognate with German feist (“fat, plump, obese”). Related also to Dutch vet (“fat”), German fett (“fat, corpulent”), English fat, Icelandic feitur (“fat”). See also pix (“pitch, tar, resin”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpin.ɡʷis/, [ˈpɪŋɡʷɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpin.ɡwis/, [ˈpiŋɡwis]

• Audio (Classical Latin, educated guess):

  (file)

Adjective

pinguis (neuter pingue, superlative pinguissimus); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. fat, plump
2. thick, dense
3. (of taste) dull, insipid, not pungent
4. (of wine) oily, rich, full-bodied
5. (of land) fertile, rich
6. (figuratively, of the mind) heavy, dull, stupid, obtuse
7. (figuratively) bold, strong
8. (figuratively) quiet, comfortable, easy
9. (phonology) of the sound l, velarized (cf. dark l)

   Antonym: exīlis

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	pinguis	pingue		pinguēs	pinguia
Genitive	pinguis			pinguium
Dative	pinguī			pinguibus
Accusative	pinguem	pingue		pinguēs pinguīs	pinguia
Ablative	pinguī			pinguibus
Vocative	pinguis	pingue		pinguēs	pinguia

Synonyms

• (dense, thick): crassus, densus
• (dull): hebes, obēsus
• (fat, plump): corpulentus, opīmus

Derived terms

• impinguō
• pinguāmen
• pingue
• pinguēdō
• pinguefaciō
• pinguēscō
• pinguiārius
• pinguiculus
• pinguitia
• pinguitūdō
• pinguiusculus

Descendants

• >? English: penguin
• → English: pinguid
• Italian: pingue
• Portuguese: pingue
• Romansch: paintg
• Spanish: pingüe

References

• “pinguis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pinguis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pinguis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • with no intelligence or skill: crassa or pingui Minerva (proverb.)