incorruptus

Forms

incorruptus (feminine incorrupta, neuter incorruptum, comparative incorruptior); first/second-declension adjective^[1] It is also spelled inconrupt-.^[2] The comparative and superlative are used from Cicero on.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from the negative prefix in- (“not”) and corruptus (“spoiled”), the participle of corrumpō (“to spoil, corrupt”).^[4][3] De Vaan traces ⟨rumpō⟩, the base of that verb, to Proto-Italic *ru-n-p- (“to break”) and Proto-Indo-European *Hru-n-p- (“to break”), cognate with Old English rēofan (“to break, tear”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero;^[6] Lucretius writes that some believe heaven and earth will remain undamaged.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is “undamaged, unspoilt”, and also proof against decay, as Sallust's imperishable mind.^[4] Of water and the like it is pure, uncontaminated, as Curtius' river Cydnus, and of documents genuine, not tampered with.^[4] Morally it is “uncorrupted, pure”: Cicero says the gods should be worshipped with a pure mind and voice.^[4] Of persons and judgements it means unbribed, impartial, as Cicero's question “what could be more upright, more incorruptible than this inquiry?”^[4]

Church Latin glosses it “incorrupted”.^[7]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of heaven and earth undamaged.^[4][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of genuine letters and an impartial inquiry.^[4][6]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of the imperishable mind.^[4][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Undamaged, intact, unspoilt; imperishable.^[4][2][1]
2. Pure, uncontaminated; of documents, genuine.^[4][1]
3. Morally sound, uncorrupted; chaste.^[4][1][7]
4. Not bribed, impartial, incorruptible.^[4][1]

Word family

• incorruptē

Related words

• incorruptēla
• incorruptibilis
• incorruptibilitās
• incorruptibiliter
• incorruptiō
• incorruptīvus
• incorruptōrius
• corrumpō
• rumpō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson