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impietas

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word impietas

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*puH-io-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pius
Latin pie
Latin impius
Latin impietas
Latin impie
Latin pietas
French pitié
Latin pio
Latin expio
Latin piaculum

Forms

impietās f (genitive impietātis); third declension[1] It is also spelled inpietās.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin impius (“undutiful, irreverent”) + -tās.[2][1][4] Priscian already asked whether it should rather be derived from in- and pietās (“dutiful respect”).[5] impius is the negative of pius (“dutiful”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *pwījo- and Proto-Indo-European *puH-io- (“purifying”); how ⟨*puH-io-⟩ became ⟨pius⟩ is disputed.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus;[4][6] the OLD cites the Rudens for impiety towards the gods.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a failure in the sense of duty and respect that pietās names:[2] in family relations, as in Accius, who asks who would think sons-in-law capable of such impiety, and the Culex, of the mad mother from Colchis;[2] towards the gods, the state or the emperor, as in Cicero, who says there is no atonement for crimes against men and impieties against the gods;[2] and in general, as when Cicero says nothing makes men so wretched as impiety and crime.[2][3] Cicero speaks of leaders of disloyalty to the country, Quintilian of a law punishing undutifulness to parents, and Tacitus of a woman accused of impiety towards the emperor, that is, treason.[3] In Christian Latin it is ungodliness, wickedness and sin,[7] and in Medieval Latin also heresy and unbelief.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of impiety towards the gods.[2][6]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of impiety within a family.[2]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of impiety and crime, and of disloyalty to the country.[2][3]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of impiety towards the emperor.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Failure in duty or respect, undutifulness (towards family).[2][3]
  2. Impiety, irreverence towards the gods; disloyalty to the state;[2][3][1] (of the emperor) treason.[2][3][1]
  3. Wickedness, impiety in general.[2][3]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Ungodliness, sin, transgression.[7][8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Heresy; unbelief.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Impietas.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/impietas. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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