insons

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈĩː.sõːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈin.sons]^[1]

Forms

īnsōns (genitive īnsontis); third-declension one-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from in- (“not”) and sōns “guilty”.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨sōns⟩ to Proto-Italic ⟨*sont-⟩ “being”, the old participle of “to be”, Proto-Indo-European *h₁s-ónt-s (“existing, real”), cognate with Sanskrit सत् (sánt-, “being, real”) and Ancient Greek ὤν (ṓn, “being”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is Plautus, “innocent”.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant guiltless, innocent, as in Plautus and in īnsontem probrī accūsāre “to accuse someone innocent of a disgrace”, and in poetry harmless, doing no injury, as in Horace, and Lewis & Short note that it is classical but not used by Cicero or Caesar.^[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means innocent.^[6] British Medieval Latin used it also as a noun for an innocent person.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][3]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of the harmless.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Guiltless, innocent.^[2][5]
2. (poetic) Harmless.^[2]

Related words

• sōns
• sum
• nocēns

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ 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