insipiens

Forms

īnsipiēns (genitive īnsipientis, adverb īnsipienter); third-declension one-termination adjective^[1] Catullus has the spelling insapiens, which Cicero rejects.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + sapiēns (“wise”), with ⟨a⟩ weakened to ⟨i⟩ in the second syllable.^[2][1] sapiēns is the present participle of sapiō (“to taste; to be wise”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *sap-i- and Proto-Indo-European *sh1p-i- (“to notice”), though the internal laryngeal is uncertain and the root may have to be left as ⟨*sHp-⟩.^[3] Cognate with Oscan sipus (“knowing”) and Old Saxon ansebbian (“to remark, notice”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Plautus,^[3] who has a character say sed ego insipiens nova nunc facio, “but I, fool that I am, am now doing something new”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It means unwise, foolish, and is also used as a noun, a fool.^[2][1] Plautus already has the comparative, quis homost me insipientior, “what man is more foolish than I?”^[4] Cicero speaks of a lucky fool, insipiens fortunatus, and sets the talk of the unwise against that of the wise man;^[4] Seneca has the superlative.^[4] The adverb insipienter, foolishly, is found from Plautus and Cicero.^[4] In Church Latin it is foolish, unwise.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a man who calls himself a fool.^[4][3][6]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus has the form insapiens.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a lucky fool.^[4][6]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as insipient, foolish.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unwise, foolish, senseless.^[2][4][1][5]
2. (as a noun) A fool.^[1][4]

Word family

• īnsipientia

Related words

• sapiēns
• sapiō
• English insipient

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com