Etymologically
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inaccessus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪ.nakˈkɛs.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [i.natˈt͡ʃɛs.sus][1]

Forms

inaccessus (feminine inaccessa, neuter inaccessum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + accessus (“approached”),[2][1] the participle of accēdō (“to approach”) with the negative prefix.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Virgil,[3] who in the Aeneid uses it of a grove that cannot be entered and of a cave untouched by the sun's rays.[4]

Semantic evolution

L&S call it poetic and post-Augustan:[4] Pliny the Elder has mountains and a sea made unapproachable by rocks, Tacitus the inaccessible summit of the Rhaetian Alps, and Tacitus also uses the neuter plural as a noun for inaccessible places.[4][5] Figuratively it meant unattainable or without rival: Apuleius speaks of a beauty no one could approach, and Macrobius of Pindar as a poet that Horace admits cannot be imitated.[2][4]

Medieval writers used it of remote countries and fortresses;[6] Bede says that Britain was inaccessible and unknown to the Romans.[6]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a grove and a cave in the Aeneid.[4][3]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of mountains and a sea.[4][3]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius applies it to unrivalled beauty.[2][3]
  • Middle Ages – Bede calls Britain inaccessible to the Romans.[6]
  • c. 1434 – A noun inaccessus for inaccessibility is recorded in British sources.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. That cannot or may not be approached, inaccessible.[2][4]
  2. (figurative) Unattainable; not approached by any rival, unrivalled.[2][4][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d 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