semianimis

Alternative forms

• semi-animis

Etymology

From semi- +‎ animis (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /seː.miˈa.ni.mis/, [s̠eːmiˈänɪmɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /se.miˈa.ni.mis/, [semiˈäːnimis]

Adjective

sēmianimis (neuter sēmianime); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. half alive, half lifeless, half dead; partly, nearly or almost [[dead; expiring, dying
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.686-687:

     [...] sēmianimemque sinū germānam amplexa fovēbat
     cum gemitū, atque ātrōs siccābat veste cruōrēs.

     [Anna] held her near lifeless sister in her bosom and was caressing her, with a groan, and was trying to stanch the dark blood with her dress.
     (The scansion is four syllables, the first “i” consonantal: sēm-yah-ni-mem. Here Dido is literally near death; cf. Aeneid 4.672 for Anna’s figurative exanimis.)

References

• “semianimis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• semianimis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.