Etymologically
Log in

abominabilis

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word abominabilis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
after 220 AD, Itala
Ultimate origin
Latin abōminor
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin abominor
Latin abominabilis
From the same root
English abominable ← abominabilis

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [a.boː.mɪˈnaː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [a.bo.miˈnaː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

abōminābilis (neuter abōminābile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin abōminor (“to deprecate as an ill omen, detest”) + -bilis, an adjective of the late period made from the verb.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first sure use is in the Itala, the Old Latin Bible: in the Book of Revelation the unbelievers and the abōminābilēs have their part in the burning lake, where the Vulgate has exsecrātīs.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

It stayed mostly a word of Christian writers and of the Bible.[4][2] Lactantius calls a tyrant abominable,[4] Hilary of Poitiers calls certain solemn feasts abominable,[4] and the Vulgate uses it often for what is unclean or hateful before God, as the winged creatures that go on four feet in Leviticus.[4][2] Lewis & Short also cite it from the declamations ascribed to Quintilian.[2] The TLL records the comparative magis abōminābilis but found no superlative.[4]

In medieval Latin it meant “accursed”.[5] Stelten glosses it “detestable, hateful, worthy of destruction”.[6] English abominable comes from it, directly and through Old French.[7]

Timeline

  • after 220 AD – The Itala uses it in the Book of Revelation.[4][3]
  • c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius speaks of an abominable tyrant.[4][3]
  • c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary of Poitiers calls certain feasts abominable.[4][3]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of unclean and hateful things.[4][3]
  • mid-14th century – English abominable is taken from it, directly and through Old French.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Late Latin) Detestable, abominable, hateful.[2][4][6]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Hateful to God; unclean.[4][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Accursed.[5]

Usage notes

Manuscripts often spell it abhōminābilis, for example in the scholia on Horace.[4][5] Etymonline explains the common Middle English form abhominable as a folk etymology, as if from ab homine “away from man”.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Abominabilis.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/abominabilis. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·