indecens

Forms

indecēns (genitive indecentis); third-declension one-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + decēns (“seemly, becoming”),^[2][3] decēns being the present participle of decet (“it is fitting”).^[4] That verb goes back to Proto-Italic *dek-ē- (“fits, is right”) and Proto-Indo-European *deḱ-eh₁-.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first citation in the OLD is from Vitruvius (c. 84–c. 25 BC), meaning unseemly or unfitting.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In the 1st century AD it also meant unsightly or unattractive: Seneca writes of a swelling belly not hidden “as if an unseemly burden” (quasi indecens onus).^[2] Petronius has a character ask numquid indecens sum? (“am I ugly?”); Martial uses it of a nose, Suetonius of laughter and Quintilian of delays.^[7]

Medieval Latin used it for what is unbecoming or shameful, ill-suited or unworthy, and in law for what is not allowed.^[8] In Britain it described, for example, a mitre of unsightly form in an inventory of 1414.^[9] English indecent (1560s), “unbecoming, in bad taste”, comes from French indécent or directly from Latin.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of what is unfitting.^[2][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of an unsightly burden.^[2][6]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of a person's looks.^[7][6]
• 1414 – An inventory describes a mitre of unsightly form.^[9]
• 1560s – English borrows it as indecent.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unseemly, unbecoming, unfitting.^[2][7]
2. Unsightly, unattractive, ugly.^[2][7]
3. (Medieval Latin, law) Not allowed, improper.^[8]

Related words

• indecor
• English indecent

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b 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