impius

Latin

Etymology

From in- +‎ pius.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈim.pi.us/, [ˈɪmpiʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈim.pi.us/, [ˈimpius]

Adjective

impius (feminine impia, neuter impium, superlative impiissimus); first/second-declension adjective

1. disloyal, undutiful
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.495–497:

     “[...] et arma virī thalamō quae fīxa relīquit
     impius, exuviāsque omnīs, lectumque iugālem
     quō periī: superimpōnās [...].”

     “And the man’s weapons that he left hanging in our bedchamber — [so] disloyal! — and all his clothes, and the bridal bed on which I was ruined: pile [everything] on top [of the pyre].”
     (Dido alludes with disdain to the epic’s recurrent epithet for its hero — e.g.: “Sum pius Aeneas,” 1.378 — now that this so-called dutiful man has abandoned her.)

2. godless, impious, unpatriotic
3. damned, accursed
4. wicked
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Proverbs. 28.15:

     leō rugiēns et ursus ēsuriēns prīnceps impius super populum pauperem

     As a roaring lion, and a hungry bear, so is a wicked prince over the poor people. (trans.: Douay-Rheims Bible)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	impius	impia	impium		impiī	impiae	impia
Genitive	impiī	impiae	impiī		impiōrum	impiārum	impiōrum
Dative	impiō		impiō		impiīs
Accusative	impium	impiam	impium		impiōs	impiās	impia
Ablative	impiō	impiā	impiō		impiīs
Vocative	impie	impia	impium		impiī	impiae	impia

Derived terms

• impiē
• impietās
• impiō

 

Descendants

• Catalan: impiu
• → English: impious
• French: impie
• Galician: impío
• Italian: empio
• Portuguese: ímpio
• Spanish: impío

References

• “impius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “impius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• impius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.