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incautus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word incautus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*kouh₁-éie-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋˈkau̯.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iŋˈkaːu̯.tus][1]

Forms

incautus (feminine incauta, neuter incautum, comparative incautior); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“not”) and cautus (“careful, wary”), the participle of caveō (“to beware”).[2][3][4] De Vaan derives ⟨caveō⟩ from Proto-Italic *kawē- and Proto-Indo-European *kouh₁-éie- (“to perceive”), cognate with Ancient Greek κοέω (koéō, “to perceive”) and Sanskrit कवि (kaví, “seer, poet”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has “an unwary country fellow” in the speech for Roscius of Ameria;[2] Köbler gives Lucretius.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is incautious, unwary or unsuspecting, as Caesar's man caught off guard and unprepared, and, as a predicate, off one's guard, as Cicero's Trebonius, overpowered unawares.[2][6][1] In a passive sense it is unforeseen or not guarded against, as Lucretius' crime that cannot be guarded against, and unguarded or unprotected, as Livy's “what you have neglected you hold unguarded and open”.[2][1]

The TLL finds the comparative in Cicero, Livy, Quintilian and Tacitus, and the superlative only in Sidonius.[3]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of crime not guarded against.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of an unwary rustic.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of a man caught off guard.[6][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of what is left unguarded.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Incautious, unwary, heedless;[2][6][1] off one's guard.[2][1]
  2. Unforeseen, not guarded against; unguarded, unprotected.[2][1]

Word family

  • incautē
  • incautēla

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ 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 c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Incautus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/incautus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·