irreparabilis

Forms

irreparābilis (neuter irreparābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1] It is also spelled inreparābilis, in inscriptions and often in manuscripts.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + reparābilis (“recoverable, reparable”), with the ⟨n⟩ assimilated,^[2][1][4] and the adjective comes from reparō (“to recover, restore”).^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Virgil,^[5][3] whose Georgics have fugit inreparābile tempus, “irretrievable time flies”.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it a poetic and post-Augustan word.^[7] It was used above all of time and life: Virgil also says that the span of life is short and irretrievable for all, Seneca that the days flow on and life runs down beyond recovery, and Columella speaks of the flight of time.^[3][7] Ambrose repeats Virgil's phrase, and Sedulius uses it of the last hour.^[3] Augustine and other Church writers have the adverb irreparābiliter.^[4][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it also meant irrevocable.^[8] Medieval British writers used it both of what cannot be recovered and of damage that cannot be repaired: a royal record of 1264 speaks of irreparable damage, and the Latin version of the Ancrene Riwle says that a vessel as fragile as glass cannot be made whole once its integrity is lost.^[9] Italian has irreparabile from it.^[6]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil writes fugit inreparābile tempus.^[3][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of life running out.^[3][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of the flight of time.^[7][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses the adverb irreparābiliter.^[4][5]
• 1264 – An English royal record speaks of irreperābile damnum, irreparable damage.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of something lost: that cannot be recovered, irretrievable (especially of time and life).^[2][7][4]
2. Of loss or damage: irreparable.^[2][9]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Irrevocable.^[8]

Related words

• reparābilis
• reparō

Usage notes

Virgil's fugit inreparābile tempus (Georgics 3.284) became a proverbial line on the passing of time;^[3][6] Ambrose already quotes it.^[3][6]

References

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