insociabilis

Forms

īnsociābilis (neuter īnsociābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + sociābilis (“easily joined”).^[2][1][3] The adjective sociābilis is formed on sociō (“to join, associate”), from socius (“companion”),^[2] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *sokjo- and Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-(h₂)-i-o- (“companion”).^[4] Cognate with Sanskrit सखा (sákhā, “friend, companion”) and Old English secg (“man, fellow, warrior”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Livy,^[5] who writes of anger against a people regarded as untamed and impossible to make friends with, tamquam indomitae et insociābilī gentī.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means not admitting friendship or alliance, intractable,^[2][6] and is used with a dative: Livy says that some were hostile to the whole human race, omnī generī hūmānō insociābilēs.^[7] Of things it meant incompatible: Pliny the Elder uses it of woods that cannot be glued together and of trees of different natures.^[2][6] Curtius and Tacitus use it of a kingdom that cannot be shared,^[2][7] and Tacitus also of setting an old woman against her daughter-in-law.^[6] Lewis and Short call it mostly post-Augustan.^[6]

In British medieval Latin it meant without a companion, and theologians used it of the relations within the Trinity.^[8]

Timeline

• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a people that admits no alliance.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – Curtius uses it of a kingdom that cannot be shared.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of incompatible woods.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of an unshareable throne.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not admitting friendship or alliance; intractable, unsociable.^[2][6]
2. Of things, that cannot be combined, incompatible.^[2][6]
3. That cannot be held in partnership or shared.^[2][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Without a companion; in theology, of the relations within the Trinity.^[8]

Related words

• sociābilis

References

1. ^ a b 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b 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