geminus

Latin

Etymology

Presumably from Proto-Italic *yemanos, from Proto-Indo-European *yemH- (“twin”), in view of Proto-Celtic *yemonos (Old Irish emon (“twin”)). If this is true, the g- must have been analogically introduced from gignō (“to give birth to”), genus (“offspring”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈɡe.mi.nus/, [ˈɡɛmɪnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒe.mi.nus/, [ˈd͡ʒɛːminus]

Adjective

geminus (feminine gemina, neuter geminum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (literal) twinborn, twin
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I.4:

     cum geminum partum edidisset

     When gave birth to the twin sons

2. (transferred sense)
   1. double, paired, twofold, both, two

      Synonyms: duplex, duo

   2. resembling, similar, like

Inflection

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	geminus	gemina	geminum		geminī	geminae	gemina
Genitive	geminī	geminae	geminī		geminōrum	geminārum	geminōrum
Dative	geminō		geminō		geminīs
Accusative	geminum	geminam	geminum		geminōs	geminās	gemina
Ablative	geminō	geminā	geminō		geminīs
Vocative	gemine	gemina	geminum		geminī	geminae	gemina

Derived terms

• bigeminus
• centumgeminus
• geminātim
• geminī
• geminitūdō
• geminō
• quadrigeminus
• septemgeminus
• trigeminus, tergeminus

 

Related terms

• congeminātiō
• congeminō
• gemellus
• geminātiō
• geminātus
• Geminī
• ingeminō
• trigeminō

 

Descendants

Descendants of geminus in other languages

• Aromanian: dzeamin
• → English: geminous
• ⇒ English: geminal
• Galician: xemio
• → Italian: gemino
• Portuguese: gêmeo, gémeo (Portugal)
• → Portuguese: gémino
• Romanian: geamăn
• → Spanish: gémino

References

• “geminus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “geminus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• geminus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• geminus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “geminus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “geminus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray