insolenter

Forms

īnsolenter (comparative īnsolentius, superlative īnsolentissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin īnsolēns (“unaccustomed; haughty”) + -ter.^[2][3] The adjective is the negative ⟨in-⟩ added to the present participle of soleō (“to be accustomed”), whose etymology de Vaan calls disputed.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in the De inventione of something happening rarely, contrary to custom, rather than commonly.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From “unusually” it came to mean immoderately, as Cicero says of Gorgias overusing ornaments of style in the Orator,^[2] and haughtily or insolently, as in the ninth Philippic of someone glad at the death of the senate's leader.^[2] The comparative is īnsolentius, the superlative īnsolentissimē.^[2][1] Stelten gives “arrogantly”;^[5] British Medieval Latin keeps all three senses.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, in all three senses.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Contrary to custom, unusually.^[2][1][6]
2. Immoderately, unrestrainedly, excessively.^[2][6]
3. Haughtily, arrogantly, insolently.^[2][5][1]

Related words

• īnsolēns
• soleō
• īnsolentia

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ 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