inhumanitas

Forms

inhūmānitās f (genitive inhūmānitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inhūmānus (“inhuman, uncivil”) + -tās.^[2][3] inhūmānus is the negative of hūmānus (“human”),^[1] which de Vaan derives from homō (“man”); he traces this to Proto-Italic *χem-ō and Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰ(e)m-ōn (“earthling, human”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first,^[3] in the De oratore of refusing a request not out of pride or incivility, and in the speeches against Verres of Roman clemency turned into cruelty and inhumanity.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is first the lack of the politeness proper to civilized people, churlishness or discourtesy, and then the lack of human feeling, heartlessness.^[2] Cicero uses it of savage cruelty, of unkindness, of the bad temper that is troublesome at any age, and of meanness: the Roman people, he says, does not love lavish banquets, but much less stinginess and meanness.^[5] Church Latin keeps “inhumanity”.^[6] English inhumanity came from it in the late 15th century, through French or directly.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of incivility, cruelty and meanness.^[2][5][3]
• late 15th century – English inhumanity.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lack of courtesy, incivility, churlishness, unkindness.^[2][5][1]
2. Lack of human feeling, inhumanity, cruelty, barbarity.^[2][5][1][6]
3. Stinginess, meanness.^[5]

Related words

• inhūmānus
• hūmānitās
• hūmānus
• crūdēlitās

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com