incorrigible (adj.)
mid-14c., "incurable (of diseases, venom, etc.); extravagant (of expense); implacable (of hearts)," from Old French incorrigible "perfect, beyond rebuke or discipline" (14c.) or directly from Latin incorrigibilis "not to be corrected," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + corrigibilis, from corrigere "to correct," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + regere "to lead straight, rule" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line," with derivatives meaning "to direct in a straight line," thus "to lead, rule"). From mid-15c. as "incapable of improvement" (of persons). Related: Incorrigibly. As a noun, from 1746.
Entries linking to incorrigible
word-forming element usually meaning "with, together," from Latin com, archaic form of classical Latin cum "together, together with, in combination," from PIE *kom- "beside, near, by, with" (compare Old English ge-, German ge-). The prefix in Latin sometimes was used as an intensive.
Before vowels and aspirates, it is reduced to co-; before -g-, it is assimilated to cog- or con-; before -l-, assimilated to col-; before -r-, assimilated to cor-; before -c-, -d-, -j-, -n-, -q-, -s-, -t-, and -v-, it is assimilated to con-, which was so frequent that it often was used as the normal form.
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updated on September 28, 2017
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Dictionary entries near incorrigible
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