English

Noun

caligo ‎(uncountable)

1. (medicine, obsolete) dimness or obscurity of sight, caused by a speck on the cornea

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kaːˈliː.ɡoː/

Etymology

Formation from an earlier adjective is possible, similarly to several similar nouns in -īgō, examples at rōbīgō, with the verb deriving from the noun, as cālīgō ‎(noun) +‎ -ō. A possible reading in Pacuvius suggests earlier verb semantics as `I make dark,' consistent with this construction. Various further IE derivations have been suggested, having possible relationships with Sanskrit काल ‎(kāla, “black”), Ancient Greek κελαινός ‎(kelainós, “dark, black”), Ancient Greek κηλίς ‎(kēlís, “spot, stain”), and the rare adjective Latin cā̆lidus ‎(“having a white spot on the forehead”).

Noun

cālīgō f ‎(genitive cālīginis); third declension

1. fog, mist, vapor
2. darkness, gloom
3. (figuratively) inability to perceive mentally

Declension

Third declension.

Synonyms

• (fog, mist): nebula

Descendants

• Asturian: calina
• Italian: caligine
• Portuguese: caligem

Verb

cālīgō ‎(present infinitive cālīgāre, perfect active cālīgāvī, supine cālīgātum); first conjugation

1. I (emit) steam
2. I am dark or gloomy
3. I grope about; have poor eyesight

Conjugation

Derived terms

• cālīgātiō

References

• caligo in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• caligo in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• CALIGO in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “caligo”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to obscure the mental vision: mentis quasi luminibus officere (vid. sect. XIII. 6) or animo caliginem offundere