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Latin

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From in- +‎ probus.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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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
  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 [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?

Declension

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First/second-declension adjective.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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

References

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  • 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[1], 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