Etymologically
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insipide

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛ̃.si.pid/[1]

Forms

insipide (plural insipides)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin īnsipidus (“tasteless”), used both literally and figuratively,[2][3][1][4] formed from in- (“not”) and sapidus (“tasty; wise”), from sapiō (“to taste of; to be wise”).[3][5][6] The sense “foolish” follows the figurative use of “sapidus” “judicious”; compare īnsipiēns (“unwise”).[2][3]

Cognate with Occitan insipid, Spanish insípido and Italian insipido.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it from 1503, in the French version of Guy de Chauliac's surgery, for a substance with no taste;[8][5][6] the TLFi's first date is 1534, saveur insipide.[2]

Semantic evolution

From the start it was said of a taste and then of food, a use that seems to spread in the later 17th century.[3] Following the Latin, it also meant “lacking judgement” of a person (about 1540) and “unreasonable” of a thing (Montaigne, 1588), senses that died out.[2][3]

The figurative sense that lived on, “dull, without charm or interest”, is also in Montaigne (1588) and in Boileau's phrase insipide (1665); of a person lacking wit, it is from 1694.[3][2] Insipidité (1572) is rare before the late 17th century.[8][3]

Timeline

  • 1503 – Of a tasteless substance (Chauliac).[8][6]
  • 1534 – Saveur insipide.[2]
  • c. 1540 – Of a person, “lacking judgement”.[2]
  • 1572 – Insipidité.[8][3]
  • 1588 – “Dull” and “unreasonable” (Montaigne).[3][6]
  • 1665 – Phrase insipide (Boileau).[2]
  • 1694 – Of a person without wit; first recorded by the Académie.[3][2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having no taste; tasteless, bland.[9][10]
  2. (figurative) Dull, insipid, without charm or interest: une conversation insipide.[9][10]

Word family

  • insipidité

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 717b
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)