insult
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: ĭnʹsŭlt
ipa: /ˈɪnsʌlt/
rhymes: -ʌlt
Forms: form: insults
Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle French insulter (modern French insulter (“to insult”)) or its etymon Latin īnsultō (“to spring, leap or jump at or upon; to abuse, insult, revile, taunt”), the frequentative form of īnsiliō (“to bound; to leap in or upon”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + saliō (“to bound, jump, leap; to spring forth; to flow down”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to spring”)).
The noun is derived from Middle French insult (modern French insulte (“insult”)) or its etymon Late Latin insultus (“insult, reviling, scoffing”), from īnsiliō (“to bound; to leap in or upon”); see above.
Senses: examples: text: Preſent we meet thy ſneaking treacherous ſmiles;
 The harmleſs abſent ſtill thy ſneer reviles;
 Such as in thee all parts ſuperior find,
 The ſneer that marks the fool and knave combin'd;
 When melting pity would afford relief
 The ruthleſs ſneer that insult adds to grief.
ref: a. 1744, Richard Savage, “London and Bristol Delineated”, in Samuel Johnson, The Works of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland. […], volume V, Dublin: Printed for J. Moore, […], published 1800, →OCLC, page 259, column 2, lines 41–46:
text: [...] I will, however, enjoin you / Never to submit tamely to insults from any one! for, although I strongly urge you to show every possible respect and deference to all who are your superiors, as indeed due to them, I wish you to remember that, should they return you insults for such consistent conduct, it will be manly in you, after having given them a chance, by your calm and dignified remonstrance, to repair the injury, to resent the (by such an omission) enlarged offence, for thereupon no one can blame you if you firmly persevere in your efforts to obtain reparation.
ref: 1835, Lt. Col. Baron de Berenger [i.e., Charles Random, Baron de Bérenger Beaufain], “Letter XII. On Character Generally, and on Manliness Especially.”, in Helps and Hints How to Protect Life and Property. […], London: Published for the proprietor, by T. Hurst, […], →OCLC, page 179:
text: To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people!
ref: 1988 July 15, John Cleese, A Fish Called Wanda, spoken by Archie Leach (John Cleese):
synonyms: word: affront
word: diss
word: insultation
word: offence
word: offense
word: pejorative
word: slam
word: slight
word: slur
word: offense
word: affront
word: barb
word: burn
word: dis
word: diss
word: insult
word: insultation
word: pejorative
word: put-down
word: slam
word: slight
word: slur
antonyms: compliment
glosses: Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect.
examples: text: The way the orchestra performed tonight was an insult to my ears.
text: Such marriages he had held were insults to the manhood of any man and the womanhood of any woman. In such unions neither party could respect himself or his companion.
ref: 1907 October, Frances Hodgson Burnett, “Red Godwyn”, in The Shuttle, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A[bbott] Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 348:
text: The story we will share in the pages of this book, you as the reader and I as the author, contains a modicum of mathematics. I have used it sparingly, and judiciously, but to eliminate it altogether would have been dishonest, a form of intellectual deception and condescension, and an insult to your curiosity and intelligence.
ref: 2011, Thomas Grissom, “A Note to the Reader”, in The Physicist’s World: The Story of Motion and the Limits to Knowledge, Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page ix:
synonyms: disgrace
outrage
glosses: Something that causes offence (for example, by being of an unacceptable quality).
examples: text: The exact nature of the teratological insult in diabetic pregnancy, and the cell biological details of the induced disturbances, are not known.
ref: 1996, Ulf J. Eriksson, “Embryo Development in Diabetic Pregnancy”, in Anne Dornhorst, David R. Hadden, editors, Diabetes and Pregnancy: An International Approach to Diagnosis and Management, Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 65:
text: [M]ost investigators agreed with the characterization of early brain plasticity as a transiently available, ancillary system that is triggered by neural insult, and that serves, most importantly, as a means of shielding the developing organism from the potentially debilitating effects of neural insult.
ref: 2006, Joan Stiles, Pamela Moses, Brianna M. Paul, “The Longitudinal Study of Spatial Cognitive Development in Children with Pre- or Perinatal Focal Brain Injury: […]”, in Stephen G. Lomber, Jos J. Eggermont, editors, Reprogramming the Cerebral Cortex: Plasticity following Central and Peripheral Leisons, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 415:
text: Within the complex genome of most organisms there are alternative multiple pathways of proteins which can help the individual cell survive a variety of insults, for example radiation, toxic chemicals, heat, excessive or reduced oxygen.
ref: 2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, “What Cells Can Do”, in The Cell: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions), Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 96:
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes; the injury so caused.
examples: text: Then fir'd with pious Rage, the gen'rous Train / Run madly forward, to revenge the ſlain. / And ſome with eager haſte their Jav'lins throw; / And ſome, with Sword in hand, aſſault the Foe. / The wiſh'd Inſult the Latine Troops embrace; / And meet their Ardour in the middle Space.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Twelfth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 590, lines 415–420:
text: The government was continually expoſed to the inſults of a faction, and deſtitute of the neceſſary reſources.
ref: 1784, “From the Accession of James to the English Crown, to the Battle of Kilrush, in the Reign of Charles I”, in The History of Ireland, from the Earliest Authentic Accounts. […], Dublin: Printed for Luke White, […], →OCLC, page 226:
glosses: An assault or attack; (specifically, military, obsolete) an assault, attack, or onset carried out without preparation.
examples: text: The Bull's Inſult at Four ſhe [the mother cow] may ſuſtain; / But, after Ten, from Nuptial Rites refrain. / Six Seaſons uſe; but then releaſe the Cow, / Unfit for Love, and for the lab'ring Plough.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 99, lines 99–102:
glosses: An act of leaping upon.
Derived terms: add insult to injury
an insult to one is an insult to all
heap insult on injury
insult to injury
microinsult