improbus

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Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

From in- +‎ probus.

Pronunciation

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 ! — 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
  5. 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 human hearts?”
      “Wicked Love: What do you not compel human hearts?”
      “Wanton Love: What do you not compel 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?

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender 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

Derived terms

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
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