insatiable

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English insaciable, also insessiabil,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French insaciable (“ravenous”),^[5][6][4][7] or directly borrowed from Latin īnsatiābilis (“not to be satisfied”),^[5][6][8][9] formed from in- (“not”), satiō (“to fill, satisfy”) and -bilis.^[5][7][3] Merriam-Webster names Middle French insaciable as the immediate source.^[3] The Anglo-Norman adjective is recorded from 1402.^[10] The Latin verb comes from satis (“enough”), from Proto-Indo-European *sa- (“to satisfy”), and the prefix from Proto-Indo-European *ne- (“not”).^[6] Modern French has insatiable.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not to be satisfied; inordinately greedy: about 1412, in Hoccleve's Regement of Princes ("Fy on þe! gredynes insaciable").^[11][2] The OED dates the manuscript before 1420.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word described greed, avarice and desires, and Lydgate used it of beasts and of a swallow.^[2] From 1529, in Thomas More, it was applied figuratively to things.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "greedy beyond measure; greedy so as not to be satisfied".^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1412 – that cannot be satisfied; inordinately greedy.^[11][2][5]
• 1529 – figuratively, of things.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Impossible to satisfy or appease: an insatiable hunger for new music.^{[13][14][3][15]}
2. Always wanting more; greedy or voracious.^[15][5]

Word family

• insatiability
• insatiably
• insatiableness

Related words

• satiate
• satiable
• satisfy
• satiety
• insatiate

Usage notes

Collins gives insatiate as an equivalent adjective,^[15] and Merriam-Webster defines insatiate as "insatiable".^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
14. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
15. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins