English
ignominy
Ignominy comes from Latin ignōminia ‘dishonour, disgrace, degradation, ignominy,…’, from nomen ‘name’, and ultimately from Hittite ḫannaⁱ- ‘to sue, judge’.
- Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-transliteratedcuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration‘to sue, judge’
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥‘name’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nōmn̥‘name’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnomen‘name’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEignōminia‘dishonour, disgrace, degradation, ignominy, shame’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentignominie
- Englishearliest quotation 1851ignominy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-transliteratedcuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration‘to sue, judge’
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥‘name’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nōmn̥‘name’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnomen‘name’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEignōminia‘dishonour, disgrace, degradation, ignominy, shame’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentignominie
- Englishearliest quotation 1851ignominy
Earliest quotation: 1851, Herman Melville, The Whale: “But like Czar Peter content to toil in the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ ‘name’
name, pseudonym, anonymity, 32 more
through Latin nomen ‘name’
nomination, noun, allocate, renown, nominate, nominal, misnomer, nominative, nomen, 20 more
Today it means
noun Great dishonor, shame, or humiliation.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Hittite ḫannaⁱ- / ignominy