Etymologically
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inexpiabilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪ.nɛk.spiˈaː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [i.nek.spiˈaː.bi.lis][1]

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]

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