intestinus

Latin

Etymology

The first element from inter (“between”) (so De Vaan 2008) or intus (“within; inwards”) (so WH 1938), both from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”) - cf. in (“in”), interior (“inner”), intrā (“on the inside, within”); the second element represents a compound with Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“stand”) (Latin stō): zero-grade extended by -i-, or e-grade with later remodelling after -īnus (so De Vaan); or is a chaining of the suffixes *-tyo- and *-nós (so WH). Compare internus, without the middle element.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪn.tɛsˈtiː.nʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [in̪.t̪esˈt̪iː.nus]

Adjective

intestīnus (feminine intestīna, neuter intestīnum); first/second-declension adjective

internal in various senses, namely:
1. (occurring within a state) civic, domestic, internal
- 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations Oratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.5:
  […] eōrum autem castrōrum imperātōrem ducemque hostium, intrā moenia atque adeō in senātū vidētis, intestīnam aliquam cotīdiē perniciem reī pūblicae mōlientem.
  You see, however, the commander of the camp and the leader of the enemy, inside our city walls and even in the Senate, striving every day to bring about some internal destruction of the republic.
1. (peculiar to the individual) individual, personal, private
2. (of or affecting the internal organs) internal, inward

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	intestīnus	intestīna	intestīnum	intestīnī	intestīnae	intestīna
genitive	intestīnī	intestīnae	intestīnī	intestīnōrum	intestīnārum	intestīnōrum
dative	intestīnō	intestīnae	intestīnō	intestīnīs
accusative	intestīnum	intestīnam	intestīnum	intestīnōs	intestīnās	intestīna
ablative	intestīnō	intestīnā	intestīnō	intestīnīs
vocative	intestīne	intestīna	intestīnum	intestīnī	intestīnae	intestīna

Derived terms

intestīnum (“innards”)
intestīnārius (“joiner”, adj. and subst.)
Mare Intestīnum (“Mediterranean Sea”)
opus intestīnum (“woodwork, joinery”)

Descendants

→ French: intestin (learned)
→ Italian: intestino (learned)

References

“intestīnus” on page 1046 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “intestīnus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 307
Walde, Alois; Hofmann, Johann Baptist (1938), “intestīnus”, in Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), 3rd edition, volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 711