Etymologically
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inquietus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋ.kʷiˈeː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iŋ.kʷiˈɛː.tus][1]

Forms

inquiētus (feminine inquiēta, neuter inquiētum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from the negative prefix in- (“not”) and quiētus (“quiet, at rest”).[2][3] ⟨Quiētus⟩ belongs with quiēs (“rest”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kwiē-ti- and Proto-Indo-European *kwieh1-ti- (“rest, peace”), cognate with Old Church Slavonic почити (počiti, “to rest”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest examples are from Horace, who calls the south wind the turbulent ruler of the restless Adriatic.[2] Köbler's first source is Livy.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means “never still, restless”, and of people finding or taking no rest;[2] Livy has a night followed by a restless day.[2] It is used of places full of unrest, and above all of restless characters: Livy says the Spaniards' minds are restless and eager for change.[2] Lewis and Short note that it is not found in Cicero or Caesar but is frequent in Livy.[5] In Pliny the Younger it is “uneasy, worried”.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “restless, unquiet”.[6]

Timeline

  • 65–8 BC – Horace of the restless Adriatic.[2][3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of restless days and characters.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Constantly in motion, restless.[2][5][1][6]
  2. Finding no rest, sleepless; allowing no rest.[2]
  3. Full of unrest, turbulent.[2]
  4. Restless in character, unsettled.[2][5]
  5. Worried, uneasy.[2]

Word family

  • inquiētūdō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d 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 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