importunitas

Forms

importūnitās f (genitive importūnitātis); third declension^[1] Also spelled inp-.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin importūnus (“unsuitable, troublesome”) + -tās.^[2][1][4] De Vaan derives that adjective from portus (“harbour”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pr-tu- (“crossing, ford”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^[5][4] in whose Rudens a character complains of the unreasonableness and wrong done to them by their master.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Plautus and later it is persistent lack of consideration for others, unreasonable demands, ruthlessness;^[2][3] Lewis & Short gloss it as unmannerliness, incivility, rudeness.^[2][3] The general sense, unsuitableness or unfavourableness, is rare: Gellius has the unfavourableness of a place.^[2][3] Church Latin uses it of insolence or impoliteness,^[6] Medieval Latin of insistence, pressing solicitation.^[7] English importunity (early 15th century), persistence or over-eagerness, came through Old French.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a master's unreasonableness.^[2][5][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence.^[3]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius of the unfavourableness of a place.^[2]
• early 15th century – English importunity.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Unfavourableness, unsuitableness of a situation.^[2][3][1]
2. Lack of consideration for others, unreasonableness, incivility, insolence.^[2][3][1][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Insistence, importunity, urgency.^[7]

Related words

• portus
• English importunity

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com