PREFIXES

Starting with ILL

Illaboratus, Illify, et al.

Illapse, et al.

Illative, et al.

Illutible/Illocutionary

Finishing Ills/Ims

Imbecile/Imbecilitate

Imbosk

Resolve

Imbricate

Immire et al.

Immanacle et al.

More Ims

Immiserization

Immure

Immarcescible

Oxford Latin Dict.

Immorigerous

Imbreast et al.

Imbue

Imbrute

Immerge et al.

Impost

Inadunate et al.

Inabusive et al.

Inane et al, I

Inane et al, II

Inaccommodate et al.

Peevish I

Peevish II

Inactuate et al.

Inadhesion et al.

Inaffectionate et al.

Inaidable et al.

Inamicable I

Inamicable II

Inamissible

Inamorata/o

Inamovable et al.

Inapertous/Apert

Inanimate et al.

Inanulate et al.

Inark et al.

Inarm/Inclip

Inarticulate

Inasperate/Inaquate

Inartificial

Inaugurate

Inly and Hyaline

Incalescence/Ignescent

Periadvential

Periaktos

Perichoresis I

Perichoresis II

Perichoresis III

A Detour on the Oxford Latin Dictionary

Bill Long 7/14/05

Introduction

Sometimes, en route to disovering the meaning of words, I find myself just reading the OLD and wondering why certain Latin words were not taken into English. Let's begin by going through several words, just for fun.

The OLD has immisceo, to mix or mingle. We have a few English words that are dependent on this word. We might immix something, which means to commingle things together. For example, a priest may immix the Eucharistic elements before placing them on the tongue. Or, in Spenser's words: "Amongst her teares immixing prayers meeke." Things that are immiscible, however, are incapable of mixture. I think we could explore the concept of immiscible personalities at some length. Also, we have immixible, which means the same thing as immiscible. An intimate mixture or mingling is called an immistion, though this word isn't very well-attested.

Something that is immixt or immixed however, is unmingled, pure, or simple. Yet, there is a second word immixt that means immix--to mingle. You see how each of the words was formed off a different meaning of the "in/im" prefix. So, when an author says that the Chinese are the most "immixt" people in the world, you really not only have to know your prefixes; you have to know your people! I am sure one could at one point have precipitated a considerable theological controversy by claiming that God is immixt. Does that mean God is pure and simple or "mingled" with other things? Well, the difference is that one is an adjective and one a verb. Let's move on.

Immiserabilis

The OLD then has immiserabilis (not to be pitied) which the OED attests as immiserable, meaning "whom none pitieth." Bernie Ebbers' tears in a Manhattan courthouse yesterday were not met with sympathy, for the judge considered him an immiserable man. We then have immisericors, immisericorditer which have to do with lack of pity or mercy, also. Possibly our word "pitiless" is sufficient to express all our sentences where this concept is in view, because there is no English "imm"-word to capture the concept. Maybe, however, we need another word, an adjective such as immisericort, to express the idea of the heart that has no mercy. "She pleaded with her captors for her liberty, but all that she received were immisericort stares and seemingly uncomprehending grunts." You would think that in our age of global terror we would want to develop the full panoply of words to describe the "heartlessness" of our foes. I am sure that W would love to use the word, though it may have too many syllables for him.

The word immissio, meaning the act of putting in, injecting or inserting, came into English as immission or immit. It is the opposite of emission, of course. Cars may now have emission standards, but can we imagine what immission standards might look like? The prefix "im" in immission is similar to the prefix "ad." We really may not need both admission and immission, since they both connote the idea of entering into something.

Cruising Along

Most of the words that follow in the OED have English equivalents. For example, we have, beginning on p. 837, immobilis (immovable), immoderate (intemperately, immoderately), immodestia (lack of self-control) and immolatio (the action of offering or making a sacrifice). Then these words have all kinds of other forms--noun, adjective, adverb and verb, and so we can create a rich mix of terms. But, I noted that a few words in the OLD were absent from English altogether. Let's close this essay by introducing a few of these terms. We have immitis, meaning "harsh, bitter, sour" (with respect to fruit) and "Lacking pity, harsh, merciless." The "natural" way to bring this into English would be through a word such as immitic, which would express the bitterness or harshness or mercilessness of a situation or person.

Then, there is immodulatus, meaning defective in rhythm or metre. This probably never came into English because the "metre" to which the word refers is that of Latin or Greek poetry, and so English had no need for it. However, there are a spate of rhetorical terms in English that only make sense if Greek and Latin cases are in mind (i.e., the difference between homoioteleuton and homoioptoton--perhaps not biggies in your book), so why not take this into English, too? "After the stroke, his gait was unsteady and his speech immodulate." Or, one could speak of the "breathless immodulation" of a child's words/voice after s/he has been scared by something or wants to tell the mother something.

I could go on for some length, but let's call it quits for today.

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