Etymograph

English

impune

Impune comes from Latin impūnis ‘unpunished’, from in- -is ‘-less, without, lacking’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-1‘to pay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷoynéh₂1‘payment’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoinā́2reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποινή1poinḗ‘blood money, wergeld’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoena1‘punishment’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEin- -is1‘-less, without, lacking’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpūnis3‘unpunished’
  8. Englishtodayimpune3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin impunis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ποινή
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English impune

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-Wiktionary, Latin impunis‘to pay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷoynéh₂Wiktionary, Latin impunis‘payment’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoinā́Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ποινήreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποινήWiktionary, Latin impunispoinḗ‘blood money, wergeld’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoenaWiktionary, Latin impunis‘punishment’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEin- -isWiktionary, Latin impunis‘-less, without, lacking’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpūnisWiktionary, English impune‘unpunished’
  8. EnglishtodayimpuneWiktionary, English impune

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’

poetry, painful, poem, poet, titanium, painless, whey, onomatopoeia, 20 more

through Ancient Greek ποινή ‘blood money, wergeld’

penalty, subpoena, 4 more

through Latin poena ‘punishment’

pain, punishment, pine, punish, penal, punitive, 4 more

through Latin in- -is ‘-less, without, lacking’

inform, immunity, insomnia, immune, indemnity, 8 more

Today it means

adj Unpunished.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “impune”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin impunis, Ancient Greek ποινή. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- / impune

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