insufficiens

Forms

īnsufficiēns (genitive īnsufficientis); third-declension one-termination adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + sufficiēns (“sufficient”),^[3][4][5] the negative prefix with the present participle of sufficiō (“to be enough”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Tertullian's treatise against Hermogenes, which asks whether the divine power was “insufficient” to produce all things (nisi sī īnsufficiēns fuit dīvīna virtūs).^[3][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short mark it as Late Latin.^[4] The TLL divides its uses into persons, such as a ward judged unable to manage without curators, and things, such as thanks that fall short.^[3] Medieval writers used it of persons unfit for a task, of inadequate things, of a defective argument or legal case, and of God in arguments about his omnipotence.^[7][8] The adverb īnsufficienter appears in Ambrosiaster.^[3] English insufficient, from the late 14th century, comes from Old French or directly from Latin, and was first used of persons.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian asks whether God's power was insufficient.^[3][4][6]
• 231 – A rescript in the Code of Justinian uses it of a ward who may need curators.^[3]
• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it in medicine.^[3][6]
• 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great uses it in the Moralia on Job.^[3][6]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as insufficient.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Insufficient, inadequate, not enough.^{[4][1][3][9][10]}
2. (of persons) Unequal to a task, unfit, incapable.^[3][8][7]
3. (Medieval Latin, especially law) Of an argument or case: defective.^[7]

Word family

• insufficientia

Related words

• English insufficient

References

1. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson