Etymologically
Log in

inseparabilis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 16:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ĩː.seː.paˈraː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [in.se.paˈraː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

īnsēparābilis (neuter īnsēparābile, adverb īnsēparābiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + sēparābilis (“separable”).[2][3][1] The adjective sēparābilis belongs to sēparō (“to separate”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in Seneca's letters, of things that cannot be separated from one another.[5][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Gellius and Apuleius use it too; the TLL notes that the poets do not.[3] Gellius speaks of an inseparable fellowship.[5] Augustine has the comparative inseparabilior of the Trinity,[5][7] and an adverb inseparabiliter is post-classical.[5] Fulgentius defines it strictly: only what can in no way admit separation is inseparable, not what is merely not separated.[3]

In medieval Latin it was used of the Trinity and of abstract unions,[8] and in medical writing for what is bound up with something else.[9]

Timeline

  • 4 BC–AD 65 – Seneca uses it in his letters.[5][3][10]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a fellowship.[5][10]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses the comparative of the Trinity.[5][7][10]
  • c. 692 – A charter speaks of the inseparable Trinity.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. That cannot be separated or divided, inseparable.[2][5]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Of the Trinity: undivided.[5][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin, medicine) Bound up with, inevitably accompanying.[9]

Word family

  • inseparabilitas

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c 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
  9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de