impossibilis Latin · revision 4111
15 Oct 2026, 21:12 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Alfenus|origins=la possibilis}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ɪm.pɔsˈsɪ.bɪ.lɪs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [im.posˈsiː.bi.lis]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''impossibilis''' (neuter impossibile); third-declension two-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[af|la|in-|possibilis|t2=possible]], with the negative prefix.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Etymonline) It is also spelled [[m|la|inpossibilis]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler's first source is the jurist Alfenus, of the 1st century BC.^(Köbler 2010) Lewis & Short call the word post-Augustan and cite Quintilian.^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant impossible, as Quintilian's “impossible, or rather infinite” and Apuleius' “I think nothing impossible”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Jerome has ''impossibile est'' with an infinitive, and Augustine and Boethius use the comparative ''impossibilior''.^(Georges 1913)^(TLL) The Vulgate uses it of a person, “powerless, incapable”.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+
+ In medieval Latin it kept both senses, impossible and powerless, and the neuter was used as a noun for “the impossible”.^(MLW)^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS) English ''impossible'' came from Old French in the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1st century BC – The jurist Alfenus uses it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * late 14th century – English ''impossible'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # [[m|en|impossible]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(Late Latin)'' Powerless, [[m|en|incapable]].^(Georges 1913)^(Niermeyer 1976)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[impossibilitās]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[possibilis]]
+ * [[en|impossible]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}