iniquitas

Forms

inīquitās f (genitive inīquitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from inīquus (“uneven, unfair”) with the suffix -tās.^[2][1][3] ⟨Inīquus⟩ is the negative of aequus (“level, fair”), which de Vaan traces to ⟨*aikwos⟩ but finds no convincing etymology for.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Cicero as its first author.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is unevenness of the ground, as Caesar's disadvantage of the terrain, and inequality of size or amount, as an inscription's unequal measures and weights, or the uneven distribution of work in Columella.^[2][5] Figuratively it is unfairness or hostile prejudice, as Claudius Quadrigarius on the unfairness of the gods, under whom the worse are safer, and the adverse nature of circumstances, as Curtius' “adversity of the time”.^[2]

In the Bible and Church Latin it became iniquity, sin and injustice, and in medieval Latin also a crime.^[6][7][1]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero.^[3]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of uneven ground.^[2][3]
• 1st century AD – Curtius of adverse circumstances.^[2][3]
• c. 1300 – Borrowed into English, by way of Old French, as iniquity.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Unevenness (of ground).^[2][1][5]
2. Inequality; uneven distribution.^[2][1]
3. Unfairness, injustice.^[2][1]
4. Unfavourable or adverse nature (of circumstances).^[2]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Iniquity, sin, (Medieval Latin) a crime.^[6][7][1]

Related words

• inīquus
• aequus
• aequitās
• English iniquity

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 c d e 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 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 Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com