insult English · revision 10638

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1570|origins=frm insulter|origins=la insultare}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: verb: /ɪnˈsʌlt/; noun: /ˈɪn.sʌlt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|frm|insulter]], a learned borrowing of Latin [[m|la|īnsultāre|t=to assail, leap upon]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) a frequentative of īnsilīre, to leap at or upon,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from in-, on, and salīre, to leap (see [[sally]] and [[salient]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To exult or brag insolently, to triumph scornfully over: 1570–76,^(Barnhart 1988) the 1560s in Etymonline; a sense now obsolete.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Latin īnsultāre was already used in Cicero's time in the sense to scoff, revile.^(Etymonline) The modern sense, to treat with scorn or abuse, is first recorded in 1620,^(Barnhart 1988) the 1610s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The noun first meant an attack or assault, especially a military one (1603, in Holland's Plutarch),^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) from French insulte or Late Latin īnsultus;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) insulting speech or behaviour is from 1671, in Milton's Paradise Regained.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) In medicine, anything that injures the body or causes disease is called an insult (1904).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1570–76 – to exult scornfully.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1603 – an attack (noun).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1620 – to treat with scorn.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1671 – an insulting act.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1904 – a bodily injury (medicine).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To speak to or treat with rudeness or contempt; to [[offend]] or [[affront]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' To attack.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An offensive or contemptuous remark or act.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(medicine)'' An injury or trauma to the body.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[insulter]]

+ * [[insultingly]]

+ * [[insultable]]

+ * [[uninsulted]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[insolence]]

+ * [[insultation]]

+ * [[sally]]

+ * [[salient]]

+ * [[assault]]

+ * [[result]]

+ * [[exult]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}