indisputabilis

Forms

indisputābilis (neuter indisputābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin in-² + disputābilis.^[3][4] Etymonline traces the base to disputō (“to discuss, argue”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Maximus of Turin (395–415 AD) has it first, in a homily, of the divinity of Christ that is beyond dispute.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

Cassiodorus uses it of an unquestionable testimony.^[1][3][6] Niermeyer gives the medieval sense incontestable,^[7] and the DMLBS records it in Thomas More's Utopia of a prerogative of the prince that cannot be challenged.^[8]

English indisputable (1550s) comes from it.^[5]

Timeline

• 395–415 AD – Maximus of Turin uses it in a homily.^[3][4]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of a testimony.^[1][4]
• 1550s – English borrows it as indisputable.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not open to dispute, indisputable, incontestable.^[1][3][7][8]

Related words

• English indisputable

References

1. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ 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