irregularis

Forms

irrēgulāris (neuter irrēgulāre, adverb irrēgulāriter); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is a Late Latin adjective from Latin in- (“not”) + rēgulāris (“regular, according to rule”).^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL quotes it from Rusticus' treatise against the Acephali (after 553 AD), who writes that Christ was not born according to the law of custom but by a new, singular and irregulari law.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Its first users were Church writers: besides the general sense “contrary to rule”, the Latin versions of the acts of the councils use it of decisions and wills that went against the canons of the Church, and of men not fit to be ordained to the Church's ministry.^[2] The canon-law sense, “contrary to the provisions of canon law”, is the one Niermeyer gives for the Middle Ages.^[4]

Medieval British writers widened it to anything not uniform or not in line with a norm, and used it as a technical term in grammar, music and geometry:^[5] Osbern of Gloucester glosses anomalum, said of the verb volo, as irregulare, and a music treatise calls certain rhythmic modes irregular.^[5] English borrowed the word in the late 14th century, through Old French, first in the sense “not in conformity with Church rules”.^[6]

Timeline

• after 553 AD – Rusticus uses it of the singular law by which Christ was born.^[2][3]
• late 14th century – English borrows it, through Old French, as irregular.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) irregular, contrary to rule, unusual.^[2][1]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Contrary to the canons of the Church.^[2][4][7]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin, of persons) Unfit to be admitted to the ministry of the Church.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin, grammar, music, geometry) Irregular, not following the regular pattern.^[5]

Word family

• irrēgulāriter

Related words

• rēgula
• English irregular

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson