English
impunity
Impunity comes from Latin impunitas ‘impunity, freedom from punishment’, from in- -is ‘-less, without, lacking’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-‘to pay’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷoynéh₂‘payment’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoinā́reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποινήpoinḗ‘blood money, wergeld’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoena‘punishment’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEin- -is‘-less, without, lacking’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpunis‘without punishment’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpunitas‘impunity, freedom from punishment’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600impunité
- Englishearliest quotation 1776impunity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-‘to pay’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷoynéh₂‘payment’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoinā́reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποινήpoinḗ‘blood money, wergeld’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoena‘punishment’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEin- -is‘-less, without, lacking’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpunis‘without punishment’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpunitas‘impunity, freedom from punishment’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600impunité
- Englishearliest quotation 1776impunity
Earliest quotation: 1776, Edward Gibbon, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell: “Maternus, a private ſoldier, of a daring boldneſs above…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’
poetry, painful, poem, poet, titanium, painless, whey, onomatopoeia, 20 more
through Ancient Greek ποινή ‘blood money, wergeld’
through Latin poena ‘punishment’
pain, pine, punishment, penal, punish, punitive, 4 more
through Latin in- -is ‘-less, without, lacking’
Today it means
noun Exemption from punishment.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- / impunity