English
genio
Genio comes from Italian genio ‘genius’, from Latin genius ‘the deity or guardian spirit of a person,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to beget’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to beget’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgenius‘the deity or guardian spirit of a person, place, etc’
- Italianc. 1300–presentgenio‘genius’
- Englishearliest quotation 1709same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to beget’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgenius‘the deity or guardian spirit of a person, place, etc’
- Italianc. 1300–presentgenio‘genius’
- Englishearliest quotation 1709same form
Earliest quotation: 1709, Wednesday, August 11, 1709: “Some genios which are not capable of pure affection…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to beget’
kind, king, general, nature, native, german, nation, engine, pregnant, generation, gender, genuine, genetic, ken, indigenous, generate, generous, naive, oxygen, gene, kin, gentle, noel, genre, hydrogen, innate, genocide, natal, nee, nativity, nada, genus, naïve, janata, germ, nascent, puny, genital, cognate, gentile, 113 more
through Latin genius ‘the deity or guardian spirit of a person,…’
Today it means
noun Somebody having a particular way of thinking.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / genio