enarrabilis

Forms

ēnārrābilis (neuter ēnārrābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ēnārrō (“to explain in detail”) + -bilis.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Virgil uses it first,^[4][3] calling the work of a shield non enarrabile, “beyond description”.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

It means “that can be described or explained”, but it occurs only with a negative or with vix “hardly”.^[2][3] Lewis & Short call it very rare and not before Augustus.^[5] Seneca, Persius and Quintilian use it in this way;^[3] the negative compound inēnārrābilis states the sense outright.^[1]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil calls the work of a shield indescribable.^[5][3][4]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it with vix.^[3][6][4]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it with vix.^[3][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it.^[5][3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That can be described, told or explained; almost always with a negative: nōn ēnārrābilis, indescribable.^[2][5][3]

Word family

• inēnārrābilis

Related words

• English inenarrable

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn