iners

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *enartis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ ars (“skill, art”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈi.ners/, [ˈɪnɛrs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈi.ners/, [ˈiːners]

Adjective

iners (genitive inertis, comparative inertior, superlative inertissimus); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. without skill, unskilled, unskillful, incompetent, crude

   Synonyms: ineptus, rudis, indocilis, incapāx

   Antonyms: vafer, callidus

2. inactive, lazy, idle, indolent, sluggish, inert; worthless; stagnant

   Synonyms: dēses, sēgnis, piger, ignāvus, socors, murcidus, languidus

   Antonyms: vīvus, strēnuus, impiger, alacer, ācer

3. quiet, timid, tame, docile, spiritless, cowardly
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.158–159:

     [...] spūmantemque darī pecora inter inertia vōtīs
     optat aprum, aut fulvum dēscendere monte leōnem.

     [...] and that [Ascanius] — among such docile flocks — be given [an answer] to his prayers: [The boy] hopes for a foaming boar, or tawny lion to charge down the mountain.
     (So far, the hunters have seen wild goats and deer; Ascanius, in his youthful enthusiasm, wants more challenging game.)

4. (of food) without flavor, insipid

   Synonyms: īnsulsus, īnsipidus, fatuus

References

• “iners”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “iners”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• iners in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.