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inconsideratus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word inconsideratus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin cōnsīderō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin considero
French considérer
Italian considerare
Latin consideratus
Latin inconsideratus
From the same root
Latin considerate ← consideratus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋ.kõː.siː.dɛˈraː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iŋ.kon.si.deˈraː.tus][1]

Forms

incōnsīderātus (feminine incōnsīderāta, neuter incōnsīderātum, comparative incōnsīderātior); first/second-declension adjective[2] The comparative incōnsīderātior is used; the superlative is found only in an editor's conjecture.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + cōnsīderātus (“considered, careful”),[2][3][1] and the second part is the participle of cōnsīderō (“to consider”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Rhetorica ad Herennium and in Cicero,[3] who uses it of words and of people: nihil potest dīcī incōnsīderātius, “nothing more ill-considered can be said”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is used of words and actions that have not been thought through, and of people who act without forethought, rash or injudicious.[2][3] After Cicero it appears in Nepos, Seneca the Elder, Quintilian and Tertullian.[3]

British Medieval Latin kept the sense “hasty, imprudent” and also used it passively, “not considered, disregarded”.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of rash words and of thoughtless people.[2][4]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses the comparative of a man more thoughtless in good fortune than in bad.[3][4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of youthful rashness.[3][4]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it in the Apology.[3][4]
  • c. 1380 – A letter of Richard II's reign uses it to mean “disregarded”.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (of actions, words) Not well considered, ill-advised.[2][3]
  2. (of people) Lacking forethought, hasty, injudicious, rash.[2][3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Not considered, disregarded.[5]
  • English inconsiderate

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c 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
Cite this entry

“Inconsideratus.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/inconsideratus. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·