13.2: §88. Adjectives from the Present Base (-AX, -UUS, -ULUS, -IDUS)
We can swiftly review a number of adjective-forming suffixes that were regularly added to the LATIN PRESENT INFINITIVE BASE.
1. -AX . This suffix could be combined with a present verb base (e.g., ten-ere , “hold”) to form a 3rd declension adjective of the type tenax , tenac-is , “inclined to hold,” with English derivatives like tenacious and tenacity (L ten-ac-itas ). [1] Here is a sample:
| LATIN INFINITIVE | LATIN MEANING | LATIN ADJECTIVE | ENGLISH DERIVATIVES |
| aud ē re | “dare” | audax | audacious, audacity |
| vivere | “live” | vivax | vivacious, vivacity |
| capere | “take” | capax | capacious, capacity |
| rapere | “seize” | rapax | rapacious, rapacity |
| loqui | “speak” | loquax | loquacious, loquacity |
| pugnare | “fight” | pugnax | pugnacious, pugnacity |
2. -UUS . We met several of these adjectives in Chapter 4 (§26), though you weren’t told at the time that they derived from verbs. If noc ē re is “to harm,” then nocuus (E nocuous ) is “inclined to harm,” “harmful,” and innocuus (E innocuous ) is its opposite. The root of tangere appears as tig- in contiguus ; so English contiguous means “touching together.” From con-tinere (“hold together”) came continuus , whence continuous and continuity . Deciduus is derived from de-cidere , a compound of cadere ; therefore deciduous leaves are “inclined to fall down.” What is the etymology of conspicuous ?
3. -ULUS . Very similar in meaning, this suffix had limited use in Latin. Bibulus (< bibere ) is the etymon of English bibulous (“tending to drink”), and tremulus (< tremere ), of tremulous (“inclined to tremble”). Other English examples are pendulous ( pendere , “hang”), querulous ( queri , “complain”), and garrulous ( garrire , “chatter”).
4. -IDUS . These adjectives often correspond with deverbative nouns in -or , of the type introduced in §74. Thus tim ē re (“to fear”) gave rise to the noun timor (reflected in E timorous ) and the adjective timidus (“inclined to fear”) > English timid . Similarly,
| pall ē re (“to be pale”) | > pallor (noun) | pallidus (adj.), E pallid |
| rig ē re (“to be stiff”) | > rigor | rigidus , E rigid |
| tum ē re (“to swell”) | > tumor | tumidus , E tumid [cf. tumescent , -ence ] |
Other English adjectives of this type include: fervid, liquid, livid, stupid, squalid, valid, vapid, lucid, rapid, and vivid . [2]
-
The
-acious
ending on
tenacious
is derived from French
tenacieux
, which was influenced by the Latin
-osus
type of adjective. There was never a Latin form “
tenaciosus.
” ↵
-
All but the last three have corresponding
-or
nouns, both in Latin and in English. Except for
rapid
(
rapere
) and
vivid
(
vivere
) all these adjectives are derived from 2nd conjugation verbs. ↵