improbus

Latin

Alternative forms

• inprobus

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *əmproβwos. Equivalent to in- +‎ probus. Cognate with Oscan amprufid.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɪm.prɔ.bʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈim.pro.bus]

Adjective

improbus (feminine improba, neuter improbum, comparative improbior, superlative improbissimus, adverb improbē); first/second-declension adjective

1. excessive, immoderate, flagrant, impudent
2. greedy, wanton, ravenous
3. wicked, bad, villainous, immoral, impious, malicious, cruel, unprincipled, shameless
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.386:

     “[...] Dabis, improbe, poenās.”

     “You will be given — wicked [man]! — [your] punishments.”
     (Translations — Mackail, 1885: “Wretch, thou shalt repay!”; Knight, 1956: “You will have your punishment, you villain.”; Mandelbaum, 1971: “Depraved, you will then pay your penalties.”; Fitzgerald, 1981: “You will pay for this, unconscionable!”; West, 1990: “You will receive the punishment you deserve.”; Lombardo, 2005: “You will pay, you despicable liar,”; Fagles, 2006: “You’ll pay, you shameless, ruthless —”; Ahl, 2007: “There'll be no impunity. You'll pay.”; Ferry, 2017: “...wicked one. You will be punished.”; Bartsch, 2020: “Wicked man, you’ll pay.”; Ruden, 2021: “when you, at last, are paying.”)

4. indomitable

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	improbus	improba	improbum		improbī	improbae	improba
genitive	improbī	improbae	improbī		improbōrum	improbārum	improbōrum
dative	improbō	improbae	improbō		improbīs
accusative	improbum	improbam	improbum		improbōs	improbās	improba
ablative	improbō	improbā	improbō		improbīs
vocative	improbe	improba	improbum		improbī	improbae	improba

Usage

Given so many nuanced meanings of the word in context, varied understandings and translations of classical Latin may be possible, e.g.:

• 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.412:

  “Improbe Amor, quid nōn mortālia pectora cōgis?”

  “Indomitable Love: What do you not compel [in] human hearts?”
  “Wicked Love: What do you not compel [in] human hearts?”
  “Wanton Love: What do you not compel [in] human hearts?”

• 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 2.331:

  noctis erat medium, quid nōn amor improbus audet?

  It was midnight – what doesn’t wanton desire dare?
  It was midnight – what doesn’t wicked lust dare?
  It was midnight – what doesn’t shameless passion dare?

Derived terms

• improbulus

Descendants

• French: improbe
• Portuguese: ímprobo
• Spanish: ímprobo
• Italian: improbo

References

• “improbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “improbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "improbus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “improbus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the aristocracy (as a party in politics): boni cives, optimi, optimates, also simply boni (opp. improbi); illi, qui optimatium causam agunt