Etymologically
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impossibilis

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪm.pɔsˈsɪ.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [im.posˈsiː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

impossibilis (neuter impossibile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + possibilis (“possible”), with the negative prefix.[2][3][4] It is also spelled inpossibilis.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the jurist Alfenus, of the 1st century BC.[6] Lewis & Short call the word post-Augustan and cite Quintilian.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant impossible, as Quintilian's “impossible, or rather infinite” and Apuleius' “I think nothing impossible”.[2][5] Jerome has impossibile est with an infinitive, and Augustine and Boethius use the comparative impossibilior.[7][3] The Vulgate uses it of a person, “powerless, incapable”.[7][8]

In medieval Latin it kept both senses, impossible and powerless, and the neuter was used as a noun for “the impossible”.[9][10][11] English impossible came from Old French in the late 14th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 1st century BC – The jurist Alfenus uses it.[6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it.[5][6]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it.[5][6]
  • late 14th century – English impossible is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. impossible.[2][1]
  2. (Late Latin) Powerless, incapable.[7][10]

Word family

  • impossibilitās

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  11. ^ 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