Etymologically
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irrevocabilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪr.rɛ.wɔˈkaː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ir.re.voˈkaː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

irrevocābilis (neuter irrevocābile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1] Manuscripts mostly spell it inrevocābilis.[2][3] A comparative is found, but no superlative.[3] The adverb is irrevocābiliter.[4]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“not”), revocō (“to call back”) and the suffix ⟨-bilis⟩,[2][3] or from in- and revocābilis.[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Lucretius and Horace on, and in prose from Livy;[3] Lucretius speaks of past time, irrevocable, that has carried off the generations of men.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means that cannot be called back, of time, as in Lucretius;[2] Horace's semel ēmissum volat irrevocābile verbum says that a word once let go flies off beyond recall.[6] Of a person it is that cannot be held back from his purpose, as in Lucan's crowd that rushes on uncontrollably.[2] Of actions and events it is irreversible, unalterable: Livy has someone rather than throw himself into an irrevocable venture on a vain hope.[2] Of things it is that cannot be drawn back, as Pliny the Elder's barbed arrowheads.[2] In Church Latin it means irrevocable.[4] English irrevocable (late 14th century) is from it.[5]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of past time.[2][3][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace, of a word once spoken.[6][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, the first prose author to use it.[3][7]
  • late 14th century – Borrowed into English as irrevocable.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. That cannot be called back, irrevocable.[2][6][1][4]
  2. Of a person: that cannot be held back, uncontrollable.[2][6][1]
  3. That cannot be undone, unalterable.[2][6]
  4. Of things: that cannot be drawn back.[2]
  • revocō
  • revocābilis
  • English irrevocable

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de