inemendabilis

Forms

inēmendābilis (neuter inēmendābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin in- + ēmendābilis, from the negative prefix and ēmendābilis (“that can be corrected”),^[1][2][3] from ēmendō (“to correct, free from faults”), itself from mendum (“blemish, fault”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It belongs to the Latin of the early Empire;^[6] Lewis and Short call it post-Augustan.^[6] The TLL lists Valerius Maximus, who uses it of an error that cannot be put right, and Seneca, of a passion that cannot be cured once anger has hardened into hatred.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Quintilian uses it of faults of speech that become incurable if not removed in childhood, and of defects of the mouth.^[2][6] The TLL notes that it is nearly always used in a bad sense.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it meant incorrigible, of people as well as things, and also incurable and irreparable or inexpiable.^[8][9][10] The Carolingian councils use it of people who despise the canons and cannot be corrected.^[9]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of an incurable passion.^[2][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of faults of speech.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That cannot be corrected or cured, incorrigible, incurable.^[1][6][11]
2. (Medieval Latin) That cannot be undone or atoned for, irreparable, inexpiable.^[8][9]

Related words

• ēmendābilis
• ēmendō
• mendum
• incorrigibilis

References

1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.