entry
impertinence
/ɪmˈpɝːtənəns/Rudeness, irrelevance, or inappropriate boldness
From Latin im- (not) + Latin, through Old and Middle French pertinent (relevant).
from French impertinence
+1 more sourcefrom French impertinence
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from French impertinence
+1 more sourcefrom French impertinence
+1 more sourceAround 1600, English borrowed impertinence from French as a tidy label for incivility—but its pieces originally described something much less personal: whether a remark belonged to the matter at hand. Pertinent traces to Latin pertinēre, “to pertain” or “reach through,” so an impertinent comment was, in the first logical sense, one that failed to connect with the subject. Then the word wandered from bad argument to bad manners: by the 1620s, “irrelevance” was established, while the social sense suggested someone barging into a conversation where they had no business being. The prefix im- is the same negative force seen in improper and impolite, though it changes shape before p, like a linguistic chameleon. Remember the word as a conversational trespass: an impertinent remark is not merely wrong—it has pushed through the doorway of relevance and started talking when nobody invited it.
The Story
Around 1600, English borrowed impertinence from French as a tidy label for incivility—but its pieces originally described something much less personal: whether a remark belonged to the matter at hand. Pertinent traces to Latin pertinēre, “to pertain” or “reach through,” so an impertinent comment was, in the first logical sense, one that failed to connect with the subject. Then the word wandered from bad argument to bad manners: by the 1620s, “irrelevance” was established, while the social sense suggested someone barging into a conversation where they had no business being. The prefix im- is the same negative force seen in improper and impolite, though it changes shape before p, like a linguistic chameleon. Remember the word as a conversational trespass: an impertinent remark is not merely wrong—it has pushed through the doorway of relevance and started talking when nobody invited it.
Kin & Kindred
From 'im-'·not; opposite of
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'pertinent'·relevant; belonging to the matter at hand
Derived Terms
English words from this root