incorrigibilis

Forms

incorrigibilis (neuter incorrigibile); third-declension two-termination adjective; comparative magis incorrigibilis^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin in-² + corrigō (“to correct”), with the adjective suffix -bilis.^[2][3][4] The TLL compares the rarer incorrectibilis.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite it from Seneca's On Anger (3.41),^[1] but the TLL's earliest record is the Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum, of the 5th century, which speaks of a wickedness that is unmoved and beyond correction.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it described people and faults that no correction could mend: Gregory the Great uses the comparative of the wicked, and the adverb incorrigibiliter of a fault committed so secretly that it can hardly be amended.^[2] In medieval Latin it was common in church law of a cleric or canon who stayed obstinate after being rebuked,^[5][6] and it also came to mean unchangeable or irrevocable.^[5][4]

English took it over in the mid-14th century, from Old French or directly from Latin.^[7]

Timeline

• 5th century AD – The Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum has the earliest record the TLL gives.^[2][4]
• 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great uses the comparative and the adverb incorrigibiliter.^[2][4]
• 2nd half of the 12th century – Peter of Blois uses it.^[3][6][4]
• 1231 – An Oxford statute speaks of rebellious clerics who will not be corrected by the chancellor.^[6]
• mid-14th century – English borrows it as incorrigible.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That cannot be corrected or reformed, incorrigible.^[1][2][8][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) Obstinate, stubborn.^[5][10]
3. (Medieval Latin) Unalterable, irrevocable.^[5][4]

Related words

• English incorrigible

Usage notes

Lewis & Short give insanabilis as a synonym.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE