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irritus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word irritus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Terence
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*Hreh₁-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɪr.rɪ.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈir.ri.tus][1]

Forms

irritus (feminine irrita, neuter irritum, comparative irritior, superlative irritissimus, adverb irritē); first/second-declension adjective[1] Also spelled inritus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from in- (“not”) and ratus “fixed, valid”, the participle of reor “to reckon”.[2][1][4] De Vaan traces ⟨reor⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁-, with ⟨ratus⟩ originally “counted”, hence “legal”, cognate with Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐍉 (raþjo, “number, account”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Terence.[4] Köbler dates Terence 190–159 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

In law it meant not ratified, invalid, null and void, as in Cicero's aliquid inritum facere “to annul something”; of hopes or promises unfulfilled, empty, as in Catullus; of efforts ineffectual, vain, so in irritum “to no effect”, as in Livy; and of a person baffled, disappointed, as in Tibullus.[2][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means void, invalid, vain.[7] in irritum dēdūcere was to declare void.[4] Italian irrito is a learned borrowing.[1]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in law.[2][4]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of vain hopes.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (law) Invalid, void.[2][3]
  2. Unfulfilled, empty.[2]
  3. Ineffectual, vain.[2]
  4. Baffled, disappointed.[2]

Word family

Usage notes

Lewis & Short list a separate irrītus, a by-form of hirrītus.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Irritus.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/irritus. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·