Licinius

Latin

A Roman bust of the triumvir M. Licinius Crassus

Alternative forms

• Licinnius

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from Licinus or licinus (“turned up, turned back”) +‎ -ius (“-y: forming adjectives”) in reference to a prominent figure's nose or hair, from Old Latin *lecinos, from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend”) or from the common Etruscan name 𐌋𐌄𐌂𐌍𐌄 (lecne). There are numerous other examples of Latin nomina formed by adjusting the -inus suffix of a cognomen to end with -ius instead.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /liˈki.ni.us/, [lʲɪˈkɪniʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /liˈt͡ʃi.ni.us/, [liˈt͡ʃiːnius]

Proper noun

Licinius m sg (genitive Liciniī or Licinī); second declension

1. a nomen, a Roman family name

   Marcus Licinius Crassus

    

Declension

Second-declension noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Licinius
genitive	Liciniī Licinī1
dative	Liciniō
accusative	Licinium
ablative	Liciniō
vocative	Licinī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Synonyms

• gens Licinia (in reference to the family as a whole)

Derived terms

• Liciniānus

Descendants

• Italian: Licinio

See also

• Gens Licinia on the English Wikipedia

References

• “Licinius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Licinius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• George Davis Chase, "Origin of Roman Praenomina", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 8, 1897, p. 126.