ieiunus

Latin

Alternative forms

ieiiunus, jejunus, jeijunus
iaiunus, iaiiunus, jajunus, jaijunus

Etymology

From the earlier iaiūnus with palatal vowel assimilation,^[1] for Proto-Italic *jagjūnos, remade from Proto-Indo-European *h₁yaǵ-yu-s, from *h₁yaǵ- (“to sacrifice”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [jɛjˈjuː.nʊs]^[2]^[3]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [jeˈjuː.nus]

Adjective

ieiūnus (feminine ieiūna, neuter ieiūnum); first/second-declension adjective

fasting, abstinent, hungry
(figuratively) dry, barren, unproductive
(figuratively) scanty, meager
insignificant, trifling

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	ieiūnus	ieiūna	ieiūnum	ieiūnī	ieiūnae	ieiūna
genitive	ieiūnī	ieiūnae	ieiūnī	ieiūnōrum	ieiūnārum	ieiūnōrum
dative	ieiūnō	ieiūnae	ieiūnō	ieiūnīs
accusative	ieiūnum	ieiūnam	ieiūnum	ieiūnōs	ieiūnās	ieiūna
ablative	ieiūnō	ieiūnā	ieiūnō	ieiūnīs
vocative	ieiūne	ieiūna	ieiūnum	ieiūnī	ieiūnae	ieiūna

Derived terms

Descendants

Balkan Romance:
- Aromanian: agiun, agiunu
- Romanian: ajun
Dalmatian:
- dezun
Italo-Romance:
- Italian: digiuno
  - → Sicilian: diciunu
- Neapolitan: dijuno, dejuno, diuno, rijuno, riuno
- Sicilian: dijunu
Sardinian:
- deunu, deunzu, diunzu, geunu, giaunu, zeunu
Padanian:
- Emilian: giun, dezön, dzon
- Friulian: zun, ğun
- Ligurian: zazun
- Piedmontese: giun, zazun, zazen, digiun, gèun (probably French-influenced)
- Romagnol: dzon, dzün
- Venetan: zun, dizun, dixun, dezun, dexun
Northern Gallo-Romance:
- French: jeûne
- Franco-Provençal: jon
Southern Gallo-Romance
- Aragonese: chechunio
  Ribagorçan: dechuno
- Catalan: dejú
- Occitan: jun, dejun, junh (Gascon)
Ibero-Romance:
- Old Galician-Portuguese: jajũu
  - Galician: xaxún, xexún
  - Portuguese: jejum, jijum, jum, injum
- Spanish: ayuno
Borrowings:
- → English: jejune, jejunum
- → Portuguese: jejuno
- → Spanish: yeyuno

References

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “ieiūnus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 296-297: “The two oldest words are then iaiūnus and iaientāre, phonologically /iaii-/”
^ András Cser (2016) Aspects of the Phonology and Morphology of Classical Latin (PhD thesis), Budapest, page 11: “jejunus [jejjuːnus] ‘hungry, fasting’”
^ W. Sidney Allen (1978) Vox Latina, 2nd edition, page 97:
Ter. Maurus, K. vi, 343 (see p. 39).
i media cum conlocatur hinc et hinc uocalium,
Troia siue Maia dicas, peior aut ieiunium, nominum primas uidemus esse uocales breues,
i tamen sola sequente duplum habere temporis.