tristitia

Latin

Etymology

From trīstis (“sad”) +‎ -itia.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /triːsˈti.ti.a/, [t̪riːs̠ˈt̪ɪt̪iä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /trisˈtit.t͡si.a/, [t̪risˈt̪it̪ː͡s̪iä]

Noun

trīstitia f (genitive trīstitiae); first declension

1. sadness, sorrow, melancholy, sloth

   Synonyms: maeror, maestitia, aegritūdō, trīstitūdō, tristitās, lūctus, cūra, dēsīderium

   Antonyms: gaudium, dēlectātiō, lascīvia, voluptās, laetitia, alacritās

   • 1997, Paul Colilli, The Idea of a Living Spirit: Poetic Logic as a Contemporary Theory (Toronto studies in semiotics)‎^[1] (in English), University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 122:

     In the Liber de conflictu vitiorum et virtutum, St Augustine writes that tristitia has both a negative and a positive dimension; one that aims for redemption, a second one that leads to dread and desperation. […]

2. the (sad) state of things
3. (of demeanor) moroseness, sourness

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	trīstitia	trīstitiae
Genitive	trīstitiae	trīstitiārum
Dative	trīstitiae	trīstitiīs
Accusative	trīstitiam	trīstitiās
Ablative	trīstitiā	trīstitiīs
Vocative	trīstitia	trīstitiae

Related terms

• trīste
• trīstis
• trīstitās
• trīstitūdō

Descendants

• Catalan: tristesa
• French: tristesse
  • → English: tristesse
• Galician: tristeza
• Italian: tristezza
• Piedmontese: tristëssa
• Portuguese: tristeza
• Romanian: tristețe
• Spanish: tristeza
• → Italian: tristizia

References

• “tristitia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tristitia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• tristitia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.