immoderate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English immoderat,^[2] borrowed from Latin immoderātus (“boundless; unrestrained, excessive”),^{[3][4][5][6][7]} formed from in- (“not”), here assimilated as im-,^[4][5] and moderātus (“kept within bounds, restrained”),^[4][8] the past participle of moderor (“to regulate, restrain, keep within measure”).^[4][6] Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace that verb to Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to take appropriate measures”).^[4][6] The second part is the source of moderate.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Going beyond usual or proper limits; excessive: 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew's De Proprietatibus Rerum.^[3][5] Etymonline likewise dates it to the late 14th century, and Dictionary.com to 1350–1400.^[4][9]

Semantic evolution

The Latin adjective already had the literal sense "boundless, immeasurable" beside the figurative "unrestrained, excessive",^[4] and English first took up the sense "excessive", which has lasted.^[3] From about 1450, in Lydgate, the word was also used of people who go too far in action or opinion.^[3] Two further senses died out: "unrestrained in feeling or conduct, intemperate" (1497–1696) and the rare "without limits, very great" (about 1508–1656).^[3] Johnson (1755) gave only "excessive; exceeding the due mean", with an example from Ray about immoderate cares.^[10] Collins still lists an obsolete sense "intemperate", and Merriam-Webster's Unabridged both "intemperate" and "boundless".^[11][2]

Timeline

• 1398 – exceeding proper limits, excessive.^[3][5]
• c. 1450 – of persons, going beyond reasonable bounds, extreme.^[3]
• 1497 – unrestrained in feeling or conduct, intemperate (obsolete by 1696).^[3]
• c. 1508 – without limits, boundless (obsolete by 1656).^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Going beyond what is usual, reasonable or proper; excessive or extravagant: immoderate spending on luxuries.^[11][2][3]
2. Of a person, going too far in action or opinion; extreme.^[3][2]
3. (obsolete, 1497–1696) Unrestrained in feeling or conduct; intemperate.^[3][11][2]
4. (obsolete, 1508–1656) Having no limits; boundless.^[3][2]

Word family

• immoderately
• immoderateness
• immoderation

Related words

• moderate
• moderation
• modest
• modal

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins