iniustus

Forms

iniūstus (feminine iniūsta, neuter iniūstum, comparative iniūstior); first/second-declension adjective^[1] It is also spelled injūstus.^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“not”) and iūstus (“just”).^[2][3][4] De Vaan explains ⟨iūstus⟩ as a derivative in ⟨-to-⟩ of iūs (“law”), Proto-Italic *jowos (“oath, law”), an s-stem from Proto-Indo-European *h₂oi-u (“vital force, eternity”);^[5] the old Latin form ⟨ious⟩ is found in inscriptions.^[5] Cognate with Old Irish uisse (“just, fitting”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has troops who trample the enemy forces, “rightly, as they are unjust”, in the Amphitruo;^[2] Köbler also gives Plautus.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Of people it is unjust or unfair, and of actions not in keeping with justice, as Terence's “how many unjust and wrong things are done by custom!”;^[2][6] it is also undeserved, and of burdens unreasonably heavy, as Cicero's “an unfair load” and Livy's oppressive interest.^[2][6] Of possession or marriage it is not recognised by law, as Livy's unlawful holders of public land.^[2]

The TLL finds the comparative from Terence and the superlative from Cicero.^[3] Church Latin glosses it “unjust, godless, unrighteous”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of unjust enemies.^[2][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of unjust deeds; first comparative.^[2][3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of an unfair burden.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of unlawful possessors.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unjust, unfair;^[2][6][1][7] (Ecclesiastical Latin) unrighteous.^[7]
2. Inequitable; undeserved; excessive, oppressive.^[2][6][1]
3. Not lawful, not recognised (possession, marriage).^[2]

Word family

• iniūstitia

Related words

• iūstus
• iūs
• iniūria
• iniūstē

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 j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson