incredibilis

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Italic *n̥-

Latin in-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-ti

Proto-Indo-European *ḱérddʰeh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *ḱréddʰeh₁ti

Proto-Italic *kresdō

Latin crēdō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin crēdibilis

Latin incrēdibilis

From in- + crēdibilis.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪŋ.kreːˈdɪ.bɪ.lɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [iŋ.kreˈdiː.bi.lis]

Adjective

incrēdibilis (neuter incrēdibile, adverb incrēdibiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. unbelievable, incredible
   • 63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.7:

     Num mē fefellit, Catilīna, nōn modo rēs tanta, tam atrōx, tamque incrēdibilis, vērum — id quod multō magis est admīrandum — diēs?

     Was I mistaken, Catiline, in not only a matter so important, so atrocious, and so incredible, but also — that which must be admired all the more — the very day?
     (That is, Cicero had announced an open revolt by an accomplice of Catiline.)

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	incrēdibilis	incrēdibile		incrēdibilēs	incrēdibilia
genitive	incrēdibilis			incrēdibilium
dative	incrēdibilī			incrēdibilibus
accusative	incrēdibilem	incrēdibile		incrēdibilīs incrēdibilēs	incrēdibilia
ablative	incrēdibilī			incrēdibilibus
vocative	incrēdibilis	incrēdibile		incrēdibilēs	incrēdibilia

Descendants

• Asturian: increíble, increyible
• Catalan: increïble
• English: incredible
• French: incrédible, incroyable
• Italian: incredibile, incredevole
• Portuguese: incrível
• Romanian: incredibil
• Spanish: increíble

References

• “incredibilis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “incredibilis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "incredibilis", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “incredibilis”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • it sounds incredible: incredibile dictu est