Etymologically
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insolesco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ĩː.sɔˈɫeːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [in.soˈlɛs.ko][1]

Forms

īnsolēscō (present infinitive īnsolēscere); third conjugation, no passive, no perfect or supine stems[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin īnsolēns (“unaccustomed; haughty”) + -scō,[2][3] a more recent derivative of that adjective, which goes back to in- (“not”) and soleō (“to be accustomed”).[3][1] In this older view the sense moved from “unaccustomed” to “out of the ordinary, excessive”, and de Vaan finds it confirmed by the order in which the meanings of īnsolēns and of īnsolentia appear.[3]

Another explanation, first proposed in 1898 and taken up by Melchert in 2005 and by the LIV, separates the word from soleō and connects it with verbs meaning “to swell” such as German schwellen, with “swell” turning into “brag”: Melchert compares Hittite šulle- (“to become arrogant”), from Proto-Indo-European *su̯l̥H-eh₁- (“to become swollen”).[3] De Vaan prefers the derivation from soleō.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Sallust:[3] per licentiam animus hūmānus īnsolēscit, “through licence the human mind grows insolent” (Catiline 6.7).[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The usual sense is to grow proud or overbearing, often from success: Tacitus writes rēbus secundīs etiam ēgregiōs ducēs īnsolēscere, “even excellent generals grow arrogant with success”.[5] It was also used of people who go beyond the proper measure.[6]

Christian writers used it in a physical sense, to become unusual or to grow: Tertullian of a voice that began to change, and Jerome of a womb swelling over nine months.[4][6][5]

Timeline

  • 86–34 BC – Sallust says that licence makes the mind insolent.[3][4][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus says success makes generals arrogant.[5][7]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a voice changing.[4][7]
  • c. 383–420 AD – Jerome uses it of a swelling womb.[4][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To grow arrogant or overbearing; to become elated.[2][4]
  2. To go beyond the proper measure, behave without restraint.[6]
  3. (Late Latin) To become unusual; to grow or swell.[4][6]

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 f g 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 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de