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impune

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word impune

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 450 BC, Twelve Tables
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (ποινή)

Forms

impūnē (comparative impūnius, superlative impūnissimē)[1] It is also spelled inpūne.[2][3] Cato has the old spelling impoene.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from the negative prefix in- (“not”) and poena (“penalty”), after Ancient Greek νηποινεί (nēpoineí, “without penalty”); its ending is that of adverbs such as bene and supernē.[2] Lewis & Short treat it as the adverb of impūnis (“unpunished”).[3] The noun ⟨poena⟩ was borrowed from ποινή (poinḗ, “penalty”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler lists it in the Twelve Tables.[4] The OLD's first quotation is Plautus, Aulularia: sī ēbriō atque amantī impūne facere quod lubeat licet, “if a drunk man in love may do as he likes and go unpunished”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Beside “without punishment” it soon meant, more widely, without harm, safely: in Plautus a man may sell a house impūnissumē, “with no risk at all”.[2] Set phrases are impūne ferre or auferre and impūne habēre, “to get away with” a wrong (Caesar), and impūne esse, “to go unpunished”: Cato's id nōbīs impūne est.[2] It forms a comparative impūnius and a superlative impūnissimē.[2][1]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables.[4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a drunk lover going unpunished.[2][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato: id nōbīs impūne est.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar: impūne iniūriās ferre.[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. With impunity, without punishment.[2][1]
  2. Without harm, safely.[2][1]
  3. impūne ferre, auferre, habēre: To get away with (a misdeed).[2]
  4. impūne esse: To go unpunished.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Impune.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/impune. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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