impudent

Forms

impudent (feminine impudente, masculine plural impudents, feminine plural impudentes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin impudēns (“shameless”), formed from in- (“not”) and pudēns (“modest, bashful”), the present participle of pudet (“it shames”).^[2][3][4][5] The TLFi and the Grand Robert date it to about 1500, Bloch and Wartburg and the Petit Robert to about 1520.^[2][4][6][7] Wiktionary passes it through Middle French, impudent.^[1] English impudent (late 14th century) was taken from the same Latin word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in the French Terence printed by Vérard about 1500, of a shameless, brazen person.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the first the adjective described a person without restraint or shame, and in the 16th century it was extended to things that show effronterie, such as words or gestures; the GLLF dates this second use to Ronsard.^[3][9] It is used as a noun, un impudent, from 1664.^[3] Today it is somewhat dated or literary.^[3]

The adverb impudemment is older than the adjective (1461, as impudamment), and the noun impudence was borrowed separately from Latin impudentia (1511 according to Bloch and Wartburg, 1539 according to Rey).^[3][6]

Timeline

• c. 1500 – Impudent appears in a French Terence.^[2][3]
• 1511 – The noun impudence appears.^[6]
• 16th century – It is applied to things that show insolence.^[3][9]
• 1664 – First use as a noun.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a person: shamelessly bold; impudent, brazen, insolent: un menteur impudent.^[7][9][2]
2. Of things: showing extreme insolence: des propos impudents.^[7][9]

Noun

1. An impudent person.^[7][5]

Word family

• impudemment

Related words

• impudence
• pudeur
• Latin impudēns
• English impudent

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse