impetus

Forms

impetus m (genitive impetūs); fourth declension^[1] The dative is impetū; there is no genitive plural, and Lucretius has the ablative plural impetibus.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from impetō “to attack”, perhaps from ⟨*impetītus⟩ shortened by haplology.^[3][1] The verb is in- with petō “to make for, aim at”, which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to fly”), the sense having shifted from “fly up towards” to “make for”.^[4][5] Compare Ancient Greek πέτομαι (pétomai, “to fly”) and Sanskrit पतति (pátati, “flies, falls”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Ennius on:^[6] lābitur ūncta carīna, volat super impetus undās, “the oiled keel glides, its rush flies over the waves”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Impetus is violent onward movement, momentum, rush, and then a hostile onset, an attack, a charge, also of fortune or disease.^[3][2][1] It is vigorous effort, and a sudden impulse of the mind (impetus animī), an urge to do something, or a fit of passion.^[3][7] It also means a wide sweep of space (in magnō impetū maris “in the open sweep of the sea”).^[3]

In Medieval Latin it was jurisdiction over breaches of the peace of a home.^[8] English impetus “driving force” is recorded in this spelling from the 1640s, after an earlier impetous (early 15th century).^[5]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – First found in Ennius, of a ship's rush and of an attack.^[3][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar: in magnō impetū maris atque apertō.^[3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: impetū quōdam animī potius quam cōgitātiōne, “from an impulse rather than reflection”.^[3][6]
• 1640s – English impetus.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Violent onward movement, momentum, rush.^[3][1][7]
2. An attack, assault, charge.^[3][2][1]
3. A blow, violence (of fortune, disease).^[3]
4. Vigorous effort.^[3][7]
5. An impulse, urge;^[3][1] a fit (of passion).^[3]
6. A wide sweep (of space).^[3]
7. (Medieval Latin) Jurisdiction over breaches of domestic peace.^[8]

Word family

• impetuōsus

Related words

• impetō
• petō
• English impetus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill