improbus

Latin

Alternative forms

inprobus

Etymology

From in- +‎ probus.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈim.pro.bus/, [ˈɪmprɔbʊs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈim.pro.bus/, [ˈimprobus]

Adjective

improbus (feminine improba, neuter improbum, comparative improbior, superlative improbissimus, adverb improbē); first/second-declension adjective

excessive, immoderate, flagrant, impudent
greedy, wanton, ravenous
wicked, bad, villainous, immoral, impious, malicious, cruel, unprincipled, shameless
- 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.386:
  “[...] Dabis, improbe, poenās.”
  “You will be given — wicked [man]! — [your] punishments.”
  (Translations — Mackail, 1885: “Wretch, thou shalt repay!”; Knight, 1956: “You will have your punishment, you villain.”; Mandelbaum, 1971: “Depraved, you will then pay your penalties.”; Fitzgerald, 1981: “You will pay for this, unconscionable!”; West, 1990: “You will receive the punishment you deserve.”; Lombardo, 2005: “You will pay, you despicable liar,”; Fagles, 2006: “You’ll pay, you shameless, ruthless —”; Ahl, 2007: “There'll be no impunity. You'll pay.”; Ferry, 2017: “...wicked one. You will be punished.”; Bartsch, 2020: “Wicked man, you’ll pay.”; Ruden, 2021: “when you, at last, are paying.”)
indomitable
Given so many nuanced meanings of the word in context, varied understandings and translations of classical Latin may be possible, e.g.:
- 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.412:
  “Improbe Amor, quid nōn mortālia pectora cōgis?”
  “Indomitable Love: What do you not compel [in] human hearts?”
  “Wicked Love: What do you not compel [in] human hearts?”
  “Wanton Love: What do you not compel [in] human hearts?”
- 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 2.331:
  noctis erat medium, quid nōn amor improbus audet?
  It was midnight – what doesn’t wanton desire dare?
  It was midnight – what doesn’t wicked lust dare?
  It was midnight – what doesn’t shameless passion dare?

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	improbus	improba	improbum	improbī	improbae	improba
genitive	improbī	improbae	improbī	improbōrum	improbārum	improbōrum
dative	improbō	improbae	improbō	improbīs
accusative	improbum	improbam	improbum	improbōs	improbās	improba
ablative	improbō	improbā	improbō	improbīs
vocative	improbe	improba	improbum	improbī	improbae	improba

Derived terms

improbulus

Descendants

French: improbe
Portuguese: ímprobo
Spanish: ímprobo
Italian: improbo

References

“improbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“improbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
improbus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
improbus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- the aristocracy (as a party in politics): boni cives, optimi, optimates, also simply boni (opp. improbi); illi, qui optimatium causam agunt