incautus

Latin

Etymology

From in- +‎ cautus (“careful”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /inˈkau̯.tus/, [ɪŋˈkäu̯t̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /inˈkau̯.tus/, [iŋˈkäːu̯t̪us]

Adjective

incautus (feminine incauta, neuter incautum, comparative incautior); first/second-declension adjective

1. incautious, heedless, reckless, unsuspecting, improvident, in one’s ignorance, not careful, careless
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.69-71:

     [...] quālis coniectā cerva sagittā,
     quam procul incautam nemora inter Crēsia fīxit
     pāstor agēns tēlīs, [...].

     [...] like a deer, wounded by an arrow — an unsuspecting [creature] amid a Cretan woodland — that has been pierced [from] afar, [by] a shepherd, driving in [such] darts, [...].

   Antonyms: intentus, intēnsus, attentus, cautus

2. (in a passive sense) unforeseen, unexpected, unguarded against, off one’s guard

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	incautus	incauta	incautum		incautī	incautae	incauta
Genitive	incautī	incautae	incautī		incautōrum	incautārum	incautōrum
Dative	incautō		incautō		incautīs
Accusative	incautum	incautam	incautum		incautōs	incautās	incauta
Ablative	incautō	incautā	incautō		incautīs
Vocative	incaute	incauta	incautum		incautī	incautae	incauta

Derived terms

• incautē
• incautēla

Descendants

• Catalan: incaut
• Italian: incauto
• Portuguese: incauto
• Spanish: incauto

References

• “incautus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “incautus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• incautus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to surprise and defeat the enemy: opprimere hostes (imprudentes, incautos, inopinantes)
    

Anagrams

• nauticus