Post by t-bob on Jun 21, 2019 15:19:04 GMT -5
Insipience
noun
1. lack of wisdom; foolishness.
Quotes
Too many prefer the charge of insincerity to that of insipience—Dr. Newman seems not to be of that number. -- Charles Kingsley, What, Then, Does Dr. Newman Mean? 1864 It has to be frustrating to know that you're surrounded by intelligent, earnest individuals who are prone to moments of public insipience, usually when their fingers are on the voting button. -- Richard Hellmann, "Plenty of room for city bed tax," The Courier, May 27, 1987
Origin
Insipience “foolishness” comes via Old French from Latin insipientia. The Latin prefix in-, which has a negative or privative force, as in insipientia, is the ordinary Latin development of a reduced form of Proto-Indo-European ne “not,” which is the same source of Germanic (English un-). The Latin stem -sipient- is a reduced and combining form derived from sapientia “reason, soundness of mind, wisdom,” hence insipientia “foolishness, folly, stupidity.” The root word behind sapientia and insipientia is sapere “to taste, taste of, smell of, have good taste, feel, show good sense, be intelligent.” Sapere is the source of Italian sapere, Spanish saber, and French savoir, all meaning “to know.” The Latin noun sapor “flavor, taste, odor, smell” becomes Italian sapore, Spanish sabor, French saveur, and, through French, English savor and its derivative adjective savory. Insipience entered English in the 15th century
noun
1. lack of wisdom; foolishness.
Quotes
Too many prefer the charge of insincerity to that of insipience—Dr. Newman seems not to be of that number. -- Charles Kingsley, What, Then, Does Dr. Newman Mean? 1864 It has to be frustrating to know that you're surrounded by intelligent, earnest individuals who are prone to moments of public insipience, usually when their fingers are on the voting button. -- Richard Hellmann, "Plenty of room for city bed tax," The Courier, May 27, 1987
Origin
Insipience “foolishness” comes via Old French from Latin insipientia. The Latin prefix in-, which has a negative or privative force, as in insipientia, is the ordinary Latin development of a reduced form of Proto-Indo-European ne “not,” which is the same source of Germanic (English un-). The Latin stem -sipient- is a reduced and combining form derived from sapientia “reason, soundness of mind, wisdom,” hence insipientia “foolishness, folly, stupidity.” The root word behind sapientia and insipientia is sapere “to taste, taste of, smell of, have good taste, feel, show good sense, be intelligent.” Sapere is the source of Italian sapere, Spanish saber, and French savoir, all meaning “to know.” The Latin noun sapor “flavor, taste, odor, smell” becomes Italian sapore, Spanish sabor, French saveur, and, through French, English savor and its derivative adjective savory. Insipience entered English in the 15th century
