inevitabilis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɪ.neː.wiːˈtaː.bɪ.lɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [i.ne.viˈtaː.bi.lis]^[1]

Forms

inēvītābilis (neuter inēvītābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from in- “not” and ⟨ēvītābilis⟩ “avoidable”, from ēvītō “to avoid”.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite Ovid, of a thunderbolt that cannot be dodged.^[4] Köbler dates Ovid 43 BC–18 AD; his first source is Curtius.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant that cannot be avoided or dodged, especially of death, misfortune and fate, as in Ovid, Seneca and Tacitus.^[2][4][6] In Seneca it also meant indispensable, and inēvītābilia are the things that cannot be avoided.^[2][6] Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan.^[4]

British Medieval Latin used it for inevitable, of death, and as a noun for the inevitable.^[7] It gave English inevitable in the mid-15th century, “unavoidable”.^[3]

Timeline

• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it.^[4][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it.^[6][5]
• mid-15th century – English inevitable is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unavoidable, inevitable.^[2]
2. Indispensable.^[2]

Related words

• ēvītō
• vītō
• English inevitable

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ 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