insipide French · revision 15701

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1503, Guy de Chauliac|origins=la sapiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɛ̃.si.pid/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''insipide''' (plural insipides)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|īnsipidus|t=tasteless]], used both literally and figuratively,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|4, 717b) formed from [[m|la|in-|t=not]] and [[m|la|sapidus|t=tasty; wise]], from [[m|la|sapiō|t=to taste of; to be wise]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) The sense “foolish” follows the figurative use of “sapidus” “judicious”; compare [[m|la|īnsipiēns|t=unwise]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[oc|insipid]], [[es|insípido]] and [[it|insipido]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it from 1503, in the French version of Guy de Chauliac's surgery, for a substance with no taste;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) the TLFi's first date is 1534, ''saveur insipide''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start it was said of a taste and then of food, a use that seems to spread in the later 17th century.^(DHLF 1992) Following the Latin, it also meant “lacking judgement” of a person (about 1540) and “unreasonable” of a thing (Montaigne, 1588), senses that died out.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The figurative sense that lived on, “dull, without charm or interest”, is also in Montaigne (1588) and in Boileau's ''phrase insipide'' (1665); of a person lacking wit, it is from 1694.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Insipidité'' (1572) is rare before the late 17th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1503 – Of a tasteless substance (Chauliac).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1534 – ''Saveur insipide''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1540 – Of a person, “lacking judgement”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1572 – ''Insipidité''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1588 – “Dull” and “unreasonable” (Montaigne).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1665 – ''Phrase insipide'' (Boileau).^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – Of a person without wit; first recorded by the Académie.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having no taste; [[m|en|tasteless]], [[m|en|bland]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(figurative)'' [[m|en|dull|alt=Dull]], [[m|en|insipid]], without charm or interest: ''une conversation insipide''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[insipidité]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sapide]]

+ * [[saveur]]

+ * [[la|īnsipidus]]

+ * [[en|insipid]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}