Etymograph

English

insult

Insult comes from Latin īnsultō ‘to leap at; to insult’, from īnsiliō ‘to leap upon’, from saliō ‘to leap’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sel- ‘to jump’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sel-1‘to jump, spring’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaliō1‘to leap, jump’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsiliō1‘to leap in or upon’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsultō1‘to leap at; to insult, revile’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600insulter1uncertain
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593insult1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English insult
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus: “Giue me thy knife, I will inſult on him,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sel-Wiktionary, English insult‘to jump, spring’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaliōWiktionary, English insult‘to leap, jump’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsiliōWiktionary, English insult‘to leap in or upon’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsultōWiktionary, English insult‘to leap at; to insult, revile’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600insulterWiktionary, English insultuncertain
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593insultWiktionary, English insult. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus: “Giue me thy knife, I will inſult on him,…”

The story

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’)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

pairs

  • insult and somersault both from Latin saliō ‘to leap, jump’

through Proto-Indo-European *sel- ‘jump, spring’

sale, result, savage, salmon, sally, salon, exile, silva, salvage, resilient, salle, 25 more

Today it means

verb To be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (somebody); to affront or demean (someone).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “insult”. 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 *sel- / insult

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