instanter

Forms

īnstanter (comparative īnstantius, superlative īnstantissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin īnstāns (“pressing, urgent”) + -ter,^[2] from the present participle of īnstō (“to press on, urge”),^[3][4] a compound of in- and stō (“to stand”).^[1] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Italic *sta-ē-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sth₂-eh₁-ie/o- (“to stand”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in Quintilian and Pliny the Younger;^[3] Quintilian speaks of beginning several clauses “sharply and insistently” (ācriter et instanter).^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it means vehemently, urgently, insistently;^[2][3] Tacitus has the comparative of men fighting more fiercely, and Gellius the superlative of eager desire.^[3]

Medieval Latin kept the sense “urgently, insistently”, as in a papal letter in the correspondence of Boniface and in Bede,^[6] and added the sense “immediately, instantly”: British sources use it in this sense from 1217 on.^[7][6][1]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of speaking insistently.^[3][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses the comparative.^[3][4]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses the superlative.^[3][4]
• 722 – A papal letter to Boniface uses the superlative.^[6]
• 1217 – An English Patent Roll uses it in the sense “immediately”.^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Vehemently, urgently, insistently.^[2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) Immediately, instantly.^[7][6][1]

Related words

• īnstō
• īnstantia

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e 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
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill