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incomptus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word incomptus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (cōmō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin emo
Latin emptio
Latin exemplum
French exemple
Latin coemo
Latin emptor
Latin como
Latin comptus
Latin incomptus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋˈkoːmp.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iŋˈkɔmp.tus][1]

Forms

incōmptus (feminine incōmpta, neuter incōmptum, comparative incōmptior); first/second-declension adjective[1] Also spelled incomtus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + cōmptus (“dressed, adorned”), the participle of cōmō (“to arrange, dress the hair”).[4][1][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[5] who says that, as some women are thought to be suited by their very lack of ornament, so the plain style pleases even when unpolished.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Literally it is said of hair not properly arranged, dishevelled, and of persons untidy in appearance: Horace has Curius with unkempt hair and a head entwined with short vipers, and Suetonius says Augustus' hair was rather untidy.[4][2] Tacitus uses it of a soldier marching rough and unkempt, and of a simple equipment;[4][2] Lewis & Short also give nails left untrimmed.[4][2] Figuratively it is unpolished, rough, unrefined, above all of speech or writing: Virgil has country people sport in rough verses, Livy says a speech was unpolished but weighty in a soldierly way, and Gellius praises the simple and unadorned charm of old speech.[4][2] Seneca speaks of an unstudied beauty.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the unpolished plain style.[4][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of rough verses.[4][2]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of unkempt hair.[4][2]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of Augustus' hair.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of hair, not arranged, dishevelled; of persons, unkempt, untidy; unadorned.[4][2][1]
  2. Unpolished, rough, inelegant, artless, especially of speech or writing.[4][2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon 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 g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Incomptus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/incomptus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·