improbity | Word of the Day

August 01, 2018 improbity [im-proh-bi-tee] noun 1. lack of honesty or moral scruples. 2. perseverance. hobbies Remember These Fashion Fads (Or Were They Faux Pas)? hobbies Soccer Terms For When The World Cup Is The Only Thing On TV WORD OF THE DAY improbity continued... QUOTES But apart from these hurtful factors, the Ring itself radiated improbity. It had but recently been said by Henry Ward Beecher that perhaps the government of the City of New York did more harm to its people than all the churches together did good. -- Edgar Fawcett, A New York Family, 1891 ORIGIN The English noun improbity comes from Latin improbitās (stem improbitāt-) "dishonesty, unscrupulousness," a derivative of improbus "inferior, improper." The parts of improbus break down fairly easily: the prefix im- is a variant of the Latin negative prefix in- used before labial consonants (e.g., b, p) from the same Proto-Indo-European source as Germanic (English) un-, Greek a-, an-, and Sanskrit a-, an-. The element pro- is from the very common (and complicated) Proto-Indo-European prefix and preposition per "forward, through, in front of, early, first." The -bus is the same ending as in the Latin adjective superbus "proud, haughty" (the ultimate source of English superb) from the Proto-Indo-European root bheu- "to be, exist, grow," source of Germanic (English) be, Latin fuï "I was, have been" (the perfect of esse "to be"), and Slavic (Polish) być "to be." The original sense of probus would be "going well, growing well," and improbus "not going well." Improbity entered English in the late 16th century. OTHERS ARE READING 1 2 3 4 5 © 2018 Dictionary.com, LLC. ABOUT CONTACT You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: matzom229@gmail.com Subscriber since: September 06, 2017 Unsubscribe Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 500 Oakland CA 94607 Manage your subscription Terms & Privacy