inaccessus Latin · revision 36513

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=70–19 BC, Virgil|origins=la accēdō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''inaccessus''' (feminine inaccessa, neuter inaccessum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|in-|accessus|t1=not|t2=approached]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) the participle of [[m|la|accēdō|t=to approach]] with the negative prefix.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Virgil,^(Köbler 2010) who in the ''Aeneid'' uses it of a grove that cannot be entered and of a cave untouched by the sun's rays.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ L&S call it poetic and post-Augustan:^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder has mountains and a sea made unapproachable by rocks, Tacitus the inaccessible summit of the Rhaetian Alps, and Tacitus also uses the neuter plural as a noun for inaccessible places.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Figuratively it meant unattainable or without rival: Apuleius speaks of a beauty no one could approach, and Macrobius of Pindar as a poet that Horace admits cannot be imitated.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Medieval writers used it of remote countries and fortresses;^(DMLBS) Bede says that Britain was inaccessible and unknown to the Romans.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a grove and a cave in the ''Aeneid''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of mountains and a sea.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius applies it to unrivalled beauty.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – Bede calls Britain inaccessible to the Romans.^(DMLBS)

+ * c. 1434 – A noun ''inaccessus'' for inaccessibility is recorded in British sources.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # That cannot or may not be approached, [[m|en|inaccessible]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Unattainable; not approached by any rival, [[m|en|unrivalled]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}