inviolabilis

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ɪn.wi.ɔˈɫaː.bɪ.lɪs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [iɱ.vi.oˈlaː.bi.lis]^[1]

Forms

inviolābilis (neuter inviolābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + violābilis (“that can be injured”).^[2][1][3][4] The adjective violābilis is from violō (“to do violence to”),^[4] which de Vaan takes as probably made from an adjective Proto-Italic *wijelo- (“chasing, violating”), Proto-Indo-European *uiH-elo-, from the root *uiH- (“to strive after, chase”).^[5] He adds that the Romans must have associated the verb with vīs (“force”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius is the first author:^[5][3][6] he warns against believing that the sun, moon and stars live on indestructible, inviolābilia.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The TLL finds it once each in Lucretius and Virgil, and more often from Seneca's philosophical works on;^[3] Lewis and Short call it poetic and post-Augustan.^[7] It meant that which cannot be destroyed or harmed, imperishable:^[2][8] Seneca has matter that fire cannot harm, and Lactantius calls fire an indestructible element.^[8][9] Of persons it meant invulnerable: Silius has a head kept safe from weapons, and Tacitus says that the foolish crowd believed Mariccus invulnerable because the beasts did not tear him.^[3][7][8]

The second sense, that which may not be violated, begins with Virgil's “only inviolable pledge of peace”;^[2][9] Tacitus uses it of a sanctuary of Diana as an inviolable refuge, and the Theodosian Code of a law.^[8] The adverb inviolābiliter appears from the 4th century.^[3][10] Medieval charters and laws used it of agreements, grants and laws that must stand unbroken.^[11][6] English took inviolable from it in the mid-15th century, first of an oath.^[4]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the heavenly bodies.^[3][2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of an inviolable pledge of peace.^[2][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of matter that fire cannot harm.^[3][8][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a man believed invulnerable and of a sanctuary.^[3][8][6]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius calls fire an indestructible element.^[8][6]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the unharmed robe of virginity.^[11][6]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as inviolable.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That cannot be destroyed or damaged, indestructible, imperishable;^[2][7][8] (of persons) invulnerable.^[2][7][8]
2. That cannot be infringed or violated, inviolable.^[2][11]

Related words

• violō
• English inviolable

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c 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 f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ 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