Etymologically
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instabilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ĩːˈsta.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [inˈstaː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

īnstabilis (neuter īnstabile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + stabilis (“steady, firm”).[2][1] stabilis is made from stō (“to stand”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *sta-ē-je/o- (“to stand”) and Proto-Indo-European *sth₂-eh₁-ie/o- (“to stand”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-.[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is in Caesar, of the swift and changeable movements that naval warfare demands.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is said of people and animals unable to keep their feet, of unsteady steps, and of things not firmly fixed, such as a balance.[2][5] Livy uses it of a battle line that would not stand still, and Ovid of an unstable earth that gave no foothold.[2] Figuratively it is inconstant or fickle.[2][1] Lewis & Short call it mostly poetic and note that it is absent from Cicero.[5] In Church Latin it also describes a person with no fixed abode.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of the shifting movements of ships.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.[4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a wavering line and of unsteady footing.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of the unstable earth.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Unable to stand firm, tottering; of steps, unsteady.[2][5][1]
  2. Not firmly fixed, unstable; not offering a foothold.[2][5][6][1]
  3. Not keeping still, wavering.[2]
  4. Inconstant, changeable, fickle.[2][6][1]

Word family

  • īnstabilitās

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson