insensibilis

Forms

īnsēnsibilis (neuter īnsēnsibile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + sēnsibilis (“perceptible”).^[2][1][3] That adjective comes from sentiō (“to perceive, feel”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Gellius,^[3] in the sense “incomprehensible”: something is said to be beyond telling and almost insensibile.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it post-classical.^[4] Serenus Sammonicus uses it passively, of a disease that cannot be felt,^[4][6] and pseudo-Apuleius' Asclepius of things imperceptible to the senses.^[4][5] Lactantius uses it actively, of what cannot feel: images and the elements are senseless,^[6][5] and the neuter plural insensibilia are things without sensation.^[4][6]

In Medieval Latin it is “imperceptible” and also “impassive, stupid”;^[7] British sources use it of what the senses cannot perceive, of a quantity too small to be noticed, and of what cannot feel.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it for “incomprehensible”.^[2][3]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of things that cannot feel.^[4][6][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Incomprehensible, unintelligible.^[2][5]
2. That cannot be perceived by the senses, imperceptible.^[4][6]
3. That cannot feel, insensible, senseless.^[4][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) Impassive, stupid.^[7]

Word family

• insensibilitas

Usage notes

The adverb īnsēnsibiliter “imperceptibly” is in Cassiodorus.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ 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