insecuritas

Forms

īnsēcūritās f (genitive īnsēcūritātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin īnsēcūrus (“unsafe”) + -tās,^[1][2] a Medieval Latin word.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Du Cange cites an oration of 1378 that speaks of the insecuritas viarum, the danger of the roads.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Hungary it named a time of unrest or danger,^[5] in Poland uncertainty and instability as well as danger,^[6] and in the Czech lands danger, uncertainty and even lesser usefulness.^[7] English insecurity (1640s) comes from the Medieval Latin word.^[3]

Timeline

• 1378 – An oration speaks of the insecurity of the roads.^[4]
• 1437 – A Hungarian document provides for the time when there is insecuritas or fear of enemies.^[5]
• 1640s – English borrows it as insecurity.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) Danger, lack of safety.^[4][2][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) Unrest, a time of disturbance.^[5][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Uncertainty, instability.^[6][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
5. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
6. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
7. ^ a b c Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences