irritus

Latin

FWOTD – 2 January 2023

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *enratos, from *en- + *ratos, whence also Latin ratus, past participle of *rēōr, whence Latin reor, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁er-.

Alternative forms

• inratus
• inritus

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈir.ri.tus/, [ˈɪrːɪt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈir.ri.tus/, [ˈirːit̪us]

Adjective

irritus (feminine irrita, neuter irritum); first/second-declension adjective

1. invalid, void, null and void

   Synonyms: inānis, vānus

   • c. 69 CE – 122 CE, Suetonius, De vita Caesarum VI 33:

     Certē omnibus rērum verbōrumque contumēliīs mortuum īnsectātus est, modo stultitiae modo saevitiae arguēns; nam et mōrārī eum dēsīsse inter hominēs prōductā prīmā syllabā iocābātur multaque dēcrēta et cōnstitūta, ut īnsipientis atque dēlīrī, prō irritīs habuit.

     He certainly blamed the dead one [Claudius] with all insults, of deeds and of words, sometimes reproving his stupidity, other times his cruelty; for he jested about him having ceased to be a fool among people (with a lengthened first syllable) as well as having many decrees and edicts of his void, as if those of an unwise and crazy one.

2. ineffective, useless, irrelevant

   Synonyms: incommodus, inūtilis, ineptus, ingrātus, grātuītus, īnfēlīx

   Antonyms: opportūnus, commodus, habilis, idōneus, conveniēns, ūtilis, ūtēnsilis, aptus, salūber

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	irritus	irrita	irritum		irritī	irritae	irrita
Genitive	irritī	irritae	irritī		irritōrum	irritārum	irritōrum
Dative	irritō		irritō		irritīs
Accusative	irritum	irritam	irritum		irritōs	irritās	irrita
Ablative	irritō	irritā	irritō		irritīs
Vocative	irrite	irrita	irritum		irritī	irritae	irrita

Descendants

• → Italian: irrito (learned)
• Spanish: írrito

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /irˈriː.tus/, [ɪrˈriːt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /irˈri.tus/, [irˈriːt̪us]

Noun

irrītus m (genitive irrītūs); fourth declension

1. Alternative form of hirrītus

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	irrītus	irrītūs
Genitive	irrītūs	irrītuum
Dative	irrītuī	irrītibus
Accusative	irrītum	irrītūs
Ablative	irrītū	irrītibus
Vocative	irrītus	irrītūs

References

• “irritus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• irritus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to frustrate, nullify: ad irritum redigere aliquid
    
  • expectation is overthrown: spes ad irritum cadit, ad irritum redigitur
    
  • to annul, revoke a will: testamentum irritum facere, rumpere
    
  • a law is valid: lex rata est (opp. irrita)
    
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 326