insuperabilis Latin · revision 35921

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=70–19 BC, Virgil|origins=ine-pro *(h1)uper(i)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ĩː.sʊ.pɛˈraː.bɪ.lɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [in.su.peˈraː.bi.lis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''īnsuperābilis''' (neuter īnsuperābile, adverb īnsuperābiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|in-|superābilis|t1=not|t2=surmountable]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) The TLL derives it from the transitive [[m|la|superō|t=to overcome]],^(TLL) which de Vaan lists among the derivatives of [[m|la|super|t=above]]; that goes back to [[itc-pro|*super(i)|t=above]] and [[ine-pro|*(h1)uper(i)|t=over, above]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL records it from Virgil on,^(TLL) and the OLD's first example is in the ''Aeneid'', ''genus insuperabile bello'', “a race unconquerable in war”.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means that cannot be defeated, unconquerable, as in Virgil and in Ovid's ''caput insuperabile bello''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Livy uses it in the transferred sense, that cannot be crossed or overcome, of the passage of the Alps and of a road.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Pliny the Younger has an illness that cannot be cured, Ovid a fate that cannot be avoided, and Gellius a certain inescapable necessity of fate.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) Seneca uses it for what cannot be surpassed: the boundless and unsurpassable good, where the will must stop.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it means insurmountable or unconquerable,^(Stelten 1995) and British medieval writers use it for invincible and unsurpassable, as when Alcuin calls a preacher an unsurpassable teacher.^(DMLBS) English [[m|en|insuperable]] comes from it, directly or through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil calls a people unconquerable in war.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the impassable Alps.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a fate that cannot be avoided.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it for a good that cannot be surpassed.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * mid-14th century – English takes [[m|en|insuperable]] from Old French or from Latin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # That cannot be defeated, [[m|en|unconquerable]], [[m|en|invincible]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # That cannot be crossed or overcome, [[m|en|insurmountable]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) (of illness) incurable;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) (of fate) unavoidable.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # That cannot be surpassed, unsurpassable.^(OLD 2012)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[superō]]

+ * [[inexsuperābilis]]

+ * [[en|insuperable]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A gloss ''insuperabilis'' “not remaining” is taken by the TLL as a separate word, from the intransitive ''superāre'' “to be left over”.^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}