inconsulte

Forms

incōnsultē (comparative incōnsultius, superlative incōnsultissimē)^[1][2] Lewis & Short also give an adverb incōnsultō.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin incōnsultus (“ill-advised, rash”) + -ē.^[1][4][5] That adjective is made from cōnsultus, from cōnsulō (“to deliberate”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kom-se/ol-e/o- (“to consult”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first,^[5] as incōnsultē ac temere, “rashly and heedlessly”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It means without due thought, rashly, incautiously.^[1] Livy has many things said and done rashly, and pairs it with incautē and audācter, in contrast with cōnsultē et timidē.^[4] Caesar has the comparative, of advancing too rashly,^[4] and Tacitus also uses it.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, “rashly and heedlessly”.^[4][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar has the comparative.^[4][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of rash words and deeds.^[4][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Without due thought, rashly, inadvisedly, incautiously.^[1][4][2]

Related words

• incōnsultus
• cōnsultē
• cōnsulō

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften