despicabilis

Forms

dēspicābilis (neuter dēspicābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēspicor (“to despise”) + -bilis.^[1][2][3] Etymonline relates dēspicor to dēspiciō (“to look down on”), formed from dē- and speciō (“to look at”),^[4] which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-ie/o- (“to look”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it no earlier than the 4th century;^[3][6][2][7] Ammianus Marcellinus, about 390 AD, and Ambrose use it of contemptible people and things.^[3][6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

Sidonius Apollinaris has the comparative despicabilior,^[6][2] and the grammarian Agroecius lists it beside horrendum and admirandum.^[3] In medieval Latin it kept the sense “contemptible, worthless” of people and things,^[8][9][10] and also meant ugly or unsightly, and neglected or run-down.^[8] English took despicable from it in the 1550s.^[4]

Timeline

• 4th century AD – First recorded, in Ammianus Marcellinus and Ambrose.^[3][6][7]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses the comparative.^[6][7]
• 1550s – English borrows it as despicable.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) Contemptible, despicable, worthless.^{[6][2][1][10]}
2. (Medieval Latin) Insignificant, mean, wretched.^[8][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) Ugly, unsightly, disfigured.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) Neglected, run-down.^[8]

Related words

• English despicable

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill