impune Latin · revision 30669

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 450 BC, Twelve Tables|origins=grc ποινή}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''impūnē''' (comparative impūnius, superlative impūnissimē)^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''inpūne''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ Cato has the old spelling ''impoene''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from the negative prefix [[m|la|in-|t=not]] and [[m|la|poena|t=penalty]], after [[grc|νηποινεί|tr=nēpoineí|t=without penalty]]; its ending is that of adverbs such as [[m|la|bene]] and [[m|la|supernē]].^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short treat it as the adverb of [[m|la|impūnis|t=unpunished]].^(Lewis & Short 1879) The noun ⟨poena⟩ was borrowed from [[m|grc|ποινή|tr=poinḗ|t=penalty]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler lists it in the Twelve Tables.^(Köbler 2010) The OLD's first quotation is Plautus, ''Aulularia'': ''sī ēbriō atque amantī impūne facere quod lubeat licet'', “if a drunk man in love may do as he likes and go unpunished”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Beside “without punishment” it soon meant, more widely, without harm, safely: in Plautus a man may sell a house ''impūnissumē'', “with no risk at all”.^(OLD 2012) Set phrases are ''impūne ferre'' or ''auferre'' and ''impūne habēre'', “to get away with” a wrong (Caesar), and ''impūne esse'', “to go unpunished”: Cato's ''id nōbīs impūne est''.^(OLD 2012) It forms a comparative ''impūnius'' and a superlative ''impūnissimē''.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a drunk lover going unpunished.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato: ''id nōbīs impūne est''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar: ''impūne iniūriās ferre''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # With [[m|en|impunity]], without punishment.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Without harm, [[m|en|safely]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''impūne ferre'', ''auferre'', ''habēre'': To get away with (a misdeed).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''impūne esse'': To go unpunished.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[poena]]

+ * [[impūnis]]

+ * [[impūnitās]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}