inflammatory

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin inflammātōrius,^[2] compare French inflammatoire, recorded from 1722;^[2][3] other dictionaries take it as formed from the Latin past participle inflammātus and -ory,^[4][3][5][6] or from inflammation and the same suffix.^[7] The Latin verb is inflammō (“to set on fire, kindle”), also "to rouse, excite", from in- (“in”) and flammō (“to flame”), from flamma (“flame”),^[4][3] and is the source of inflame.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, something that inflames or rouses strong feeling: 1681, in Henry More's exposition of Daniel.^[2][7] The adjective is recorded before 1711 in Ken's Hymnarium, in the sense "tending to rouse passion or desire".^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense came first, and the OED notes that it is now usually meant in a bad sense, of rousing anger or hostility.^[2][4][7] The medical sense, "of the nature of or characterized by inflammation", followed in 1732, in Arbuthnot's work on diet,^[2][4] and in 1733 the word was used of what heats the blood or excites the senses.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it only as "having the power of inflaming", with Arbuthnot's inflammatory distemper and an inflammatory fever among his examples,^[8] while Webster (1828) gave the medical senses first and then "tending to excite anger, animosity, tumult or sedition", of libels and speeches.^[9] The literal sense of a blazing condition had only a short life (1757–1796).^[2] The noun is now rare or obsolete.^[7]

Timeline

• 1681 – noun, something that inflames strong feeling.^[2][4]
• before 1711 – tending to rouse passion or desire; later, anger or animosity.^[2][5]
• 1732 – pathology, of or characterized by inflammation.^[2][4]
• 1733 – heating the blood; stimulating.^[2]
• 1757 – causing a blazing condition (obsolete by 1796).^[2]
• 1874 – characterized by excitement or passion.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Likely or intended to arouse anger, hostility or violence, especially of speech or writing: The editor refused to print the inflammatory letter.
2. (pathology) Relating to, caused by or causing inflammation: an inflammatory disease of the joints.
3. Tending to excite the senses or passion.

Word family

• inflammatorily
• anti-inflammatory
• noninflammatory
• subinflammatory

Related words

• inflame
• inflammation
• inflammable
• flame

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Webster, Noah (1828), An American Dictionary of the English Language, New York: S. Converse