iniquus

Forms

inīquus (feminine inīqua, neuter inīquum, comparative inīquior, superlative inīquissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1] It is often written inīcus, which manuscripts confuse with inimīcus.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin in- (“not”) + aequus (“level, equal, fair”), with the vowel weakened.^[2][3][1] aequus (Old Latin ⟨aiquom⟩) is probably from ⟨*aikwos⟩, but de Vaan finds no convincing etymology for it.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[5] but the OLD cites Plautus: illī inīquī iūs ignōrant, “those unfair men know nothing of justice”, and women live lēge … inīquiōre … quam virī, “under a harsher law than men”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Inīquus is first “uneven, rough” of ground (Caesar: subīre inīquissimum locum, “to climb a very steep place”), “unequal”, “excessive” or “too small”, and of a contest “ill-matched” (Cicero: haec est inīqua certātiō).^[2][3] Of laws and actions it is “unfair, harsh” (of false weights, exorbitant interest, unjust charges), and of persons “prejudiced, hostile”; as a noun inīquus is an ill-wisher, an enemy.^[2][1] Circumstances, positions, winds and seas that work against someone are inīqua, “unfavourable, adverse”.^[2][1] Inīquō animō is “with resentment, discontentedly”.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “unjust, wicked, godless”, and as a noun “evildoer”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: illī inīquī iūs ignōrant.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence: nē istuc tam inīquō patiāre animō.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: haec est inīqua certātiō.^[2][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of steep ground.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Uneven, rough, steep (of ground).^[2][3]
2. Unequal; excessive; too small.^[2][1]
3. Ill-matched; one-sided.^[2]
4. unfair, unjust, harsh.^[2][1][6]
5. Prejudiced, hostile.^[2][1]
6. Unfavourable, adverse.^[2][1]
7. inīquō animō: discontentedly, with resentment.^[2]
8. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Wicked, godless.^[6]

Noun

1. An ill-wisher, enemy;^[2][6] (Ecclesiastical Latin) an evildoer.^[2][6]

Word family

• inīquitās

Related words

• aequus
• inimīcus

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 j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson