pinguis

From Proto-Italic *pīngwis, from Proto-Indo-European *peyH- (“fat”), maybe contaminated by *bʰenǵʰ- (“fat, thick”).

Cognate with German feist (“fat, plump, obese”). Related also to Dutch vet (“fat”), German fett (“fat, corpulent”), English fat, Icelandic feitur (“fat”). See also pix (“pitch, tar, resin”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpɪŋ.ɡʷɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpiŋ.ɡʷis]

pinguis (neuter pingue, superlative pinguissimus); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. fat, plump

   Synonyms: corpulentus, opīmus

2. thick, dense

   Synonyms: crassus, densus

3. (of a taste) dull, insipid, not pungent

   Synonyms: hebes, obēsus

4. (of wine) oily, rich, full-bodied
5. (of soil, etc.) fertile, rich
   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgics 2.346–353:

     Quod superest, quaecumque premes virgulta per agros,
     Sparge fimo pingui et multa memor occule terra,
     Aut lapidem bibulum aut squalentis infode conchas;
     Inter enim labentur aquae tenuisque subibit
     Halitus atque animos tollent sata; iamque reperti,
     Qui saxo super atque ingentis pondere testae
     Urgerent; hoc effusos munimen ad imbris,
     Hoc, ubi hiulca siti findit canis aestifer arva.

     • Translation by James B. Greenough

       For the rest, whate'er
       The sets thou plantest in thy fields, thereon
       Strew refuse rich, and with abundant earth
       Take heed to hide them, and dig in withal
       Rough shells or porous stone, for therebetween
       Will water trickle and fine vapour creep,
       And so the plants their drooping spirits raise.
       Aye, and there have been, who with weight of stone
       Or heavy potsherd press them from above;
       This serves for shield in pelting showers, and this
       When the hot dog-star chaps the fields with drought.

6. (figuratively) (of the mind) heavy, dull, stupid, obtuse
7. (figuratively) bold, strong
8. (figuratively) quiet, comfortable, easy
9. (phonology) (of the sound /l/) velarized, dark

   Antonym: exīlis

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

• “pinguis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pinguis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “pinguis”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • with no intelligence or skill: crassa or pingui Minerva (proverb.)