iniucundus

Forms

iniūcundus (feminine iniūcunda, neuter iniūcundum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + iūcundus (“pleasant”).^[2][3][1][4] De Vaan lists iūcundus (“agreeable”) among the derivatives of iuvō (“to help”), which he traces to Proto-Indo-European *h1i-h1euH-(e/o-) (“to help”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Cicero on;^[3] in the Partitiones oratoriae he speaks of variety in argument and a distinction that is “not unpleasant”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Cicero and later it is used of things unpleasant to the mind or feelings, such as a rumour unwelcome to the good citizens.^[2][6] From the 1st century AD it is also used of what is unpleasant to the senses: Columella of chickpeas, Pliny the Elder of a smell and Gellius of the sound of a voice.^[2] Quintilian uses it of a writer who is pleasant enough to read, in the phrase non iniucundus auctor.^[6][7] Of people it could mean harsh or unfriendly, as in Tacitus.^[7][8]

The manuscripts often spell it ⟨iniocundus⟩.^[2][3] Medieval British writers used it in the classical sense, often in litotes.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of things unpleasant to the mind.^[2][3][4]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of chickpeas unpleasant to eat.^[2][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian calls an author non iniucundus.^[6][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a person harsh towards the wicked.^[7][8][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unpleasant, disagreeable, to the mind or feelings.^[2][6]
2. Unpleasant to the senses.^[2]
3. Of people: harsh, unfriendly.^[7][8]

Word family

• iniūcunditās

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 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. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press