insulsus Latin · revision 33275

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la sāl}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ĩːˈsʊɫ.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [inˈsul.sus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''īnsulsus''' (feminine īnsulsa, neuter īnsulsum, comparative insulsior, adverb īnsulsē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ The comparative ''īnsulsior'' is in Jerome.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|in-|salsus|t1=not|t2=salted, witty]],^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) from the root of [[m|la|sāl|t=salt, wit]].^(Köbler 2010) The ancient grammarians already explained it as formed from [[m|la|salsus]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus says of a man that he has no dull wit, ''non insulsum huic ingenium''.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates it from Catullus.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its literal sense is unsalted: Columella has unsalted olive lees.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero speaks of an appetite for tasteless food.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively, as [[salsus]] also meant witty, it means witless, dull or stupid, of people and of actions or style:^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Cicero says that a not tasteless kind of joke can lie in a single word.^(OLD 2012) It also means bungling or awkward.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Church Latin has it as tasteless, insipid, and silly, absurd or awkward.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a man's wit.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of jokes and of tasteless food.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella, of unsalted olive lees.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Unsalted, [[m|en|insipid]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Witless, [[m|en|dull]], [[m|en|stupid]], absurd.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Bungling, [[m|en|awkward]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[īnsulsitās]]

+ * [[subinsulsus]]

+ * [[īnsulsē]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[salsus]]

+ * [[sāl]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}