asinus

Indonesian

Etymology

Internationalism, learned borrowing from Latin acinus (“grape, grape-stone”); the histopathologic sense comes figuratively from the fancied resemblance (on microscopy) of acinic cells (acinar cells) to bunches of drupelets, berries, or grapes.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /aˈsinus/ [aˈsi.nʊs]
• Rhymes: -inus
• Syllabification: a‧si‧nus

Noun

asinus (uncountable)

1. acinus:
   1. (anatomy) one of the granular masses which constitute a racemose or compound gland, as the pancreas; also, one of the saccular recesses in the lobules of a racemose gland.

Further reading

• “asinus” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Latin

Etymology

Usually compared to Ancient Greek ὄνος (ónos) (which cannot be its direct ancestor), and, just like other IE words for "ass", must be traced back to an unknown substrate source in Asia Minor (compare Hieroglyphic Luwian [script needed] (tarkasna), Sumerian 𒀲 (anše)). The lack of rhotacism of the single intervocalic -s- after a short vowel would point to a recent borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈa.si.nus/, [ˈäs̠ɪnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.si.nus/, [ˈäːs̬inus]

Noun

asinus m (genitive asinī); second declension

1. donkey, ass
3. (figuratively, humorous, derogatory) ass, cretin, idiot, dolt, blockhead, donkey (a slow-witted, inept person)

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:homo stultus

   • c. 191 BCE, Plautus, Pseudolus, act 1, scene 2:

     Neque egō hominēs magis asinōs umquam vīdī […] quōs quom feriās, tibi plūs noceās.

     I've never seen human beings who were more like asses […] When you hit them, you hurt yourself more.

   • 160 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Adelphoe :

     Quid tū autem huic, asine, auscultās?

     And why are you listening to him, you dolt?

   • c. 70 BCE, Cicero, In Pisonem, chapter 73:

     Quid nunc tē, asine, litterās doceam? Nōn opus est verbīs, sed fustibus.

     Must I now teach an ass like you to read? What you need isn't words but a cudgeling.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	asinus	asinī
genitive	asinī	asinōrum
dative	asinō	asinīs
accusative	asinum	asinōs
ablative	asinō	asinīs
vocative	asine	asinī

Synonyms

• iūmentum (esp. used to pull carts)
• onager, onagrus (the wild ass)

Derived terms

• asellus
• asina
• asinārius
• asinīnus
• asinus ad lyram
• asinus asinum fricat
• asinus in tegulīs
• asinusca
• pōns asinōrum
• quī asinum nōn potest, strātum caedit
• sepultūrā asinī sepeliētur

Descendants

• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: àinu
• Balkano-Romance:
  • Romanian: asân, asin
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Corsican: asinu
  • Italian: asino
  • Sicilian: àsinu
  • Venetan: axèno
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansch: asen, asan, esan
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Emilian: esen, az, ase, aso
  • Ligurian: âze
  • Lombard: asen, asne
  • Piedmontese: aso, asi
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Northern:
    • Old Franco-Provençal: asno
      • Franco-Provençal: âno
    • Old French: asne (see there for further descendants)
  • Southern:
    • Catalan: ase
    • Old Occitan: asne
      • Occitan: ase
        • Gascon: aso, aine
        • Limousin: asne
        • Provençal: ai
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: asno
    • Galician: asno
    • Portuguese: asno
  • Old Spanish: asno
    • Spanish: asno
      • → Cebuano: asno
      • → Classical Nahuatl: axnoh
      • → Tagalog: asno
• Borrowings:
  • → Berber:
    • Tarifit: asnus
    • Tashelhit: asnus
  • → Esperanto: azeno
  • → Proto-Celtic:
    • Old Irish: asan
      • Middle Irish: asan, assan
    • Proto-Brythonic:
      • Breton: azen
      • Old Cornish: asen
      • Welsh: asyn, asen
    • → Old English: assen, assa
      • Middle English: as, ass, asse
        • English: ass
  • → Samoan: asini

Adjective

asinus (feminine asina, neuter asinum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (relational) ass, donkey
2. stupid, asinine

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	asinus	asina	asinum		asinī	asinae	asina
genitive	asinī	asinae	asinī		asinōrum	asinārum	asinōrum
dative	asinō	asinae	asinō		asinīs
accusative	asinum	asinam	asinum		asinōs	asinās	asina
ablative	asinō	asinā	asinō		asinīs
vocative	asine	asina	asinum		asinī	asinae	asina

Further reading

• “asinus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “asinus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "asinus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• asinus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.