inexpiabilis

Forms

inexpiābilis (neuter inexpiābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“not”) and expiō (“to atone for”) with the suffix ⟨-bilis⟩,^[2] or from in- and expiābilis.^[1][3] expiō is a compound of ex- and piō (“to appease”), from pius (“dutiful”),^[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *pwījo- and Proto-Indo-European *puH-io- (“purifying”).^[5] Cognate with Umbrian pihatu (“to reconcile”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[4] who speaks of unheard-of rites profaned by an inexpiable crime, inexpiabili scelere.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Of offences it means that cannot be atoned for, inexpiable;^[2] Cicero has an inexpiable religious obligation.^[6] Of punishments it is that cannot be escaped by expiatory rites, as when Cicero reports the cry that inexpiable punishments await those who harm an animal.^[2] Of persons and feelings it is that cannot be appeased, implacable: Cicero writes of Caesar showing himself implacable and irreconcilable to him.^[2] Livy speaks of an implacable war and of the Romans' implacable hatred of Hannibal, and Quintilian also uses it of war.^[6] Isidore of Seville explains it as what is never expiated or purged, and glossaries as what cannot be cleansed, or one not moved by prayers.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of an inexpiable crime and an implacable enemy.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of an implacable war and hatred.^[6][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian.^[6][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That cannot be atoned for, inexpiable.^[2][6][1]
2. Of punishments: that cannot be averted by expiation.^[2]
3. That cannot be appeased, implacable, irreconcilable.^[2][6][1]

Related words

• expiō
• piō
• pius
• implācābilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b 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 e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press