insolite

French

Etymology

From Latin īnsolitus (“unaccustomed”). Compare Portuguese and Spanish insólito, Italian insolito.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.sɔ.lit/

Adjective

insolite (plural insolites)

1. unusual, strange

   Synonyms: anormal, bizarre, étonnant, étrange, extraordinaire, inhabituel, inusité, surprenant

   Antonyms: accoutumé, commun, familier, habituel, normal, ordinaire

   • 2008, Le bon usage, originally published 1936, edited by Maurice Grevisse; 14th edition by André Goosse, p.1436

     Si le verbe de la relative a un objet direct, on évite l’inversion du sujet. L’exemple suivant est d’un auteur qui aime les constructions insolites.

     If the verb of the relative clause has a direct object, subject–verb inversion is avoided. The following example is from an author who is fond of unusual constructions.

   • 1845, Alexandre Dumas, La Reine Margot, page 127:

     On n’eût point dit d’ailleurs, en le voyant, qu’il se passât quelque chose d’insolite par la ville, ni au Louvre ; il était vêtu avec son élégance ordinaire.

     One could not tell by looking at him, incidentally, that anything unusual was happening in the city, or at the Louvre; he was dressed with his usual elegance.

Related terms

• insolitement

Further reading

• “insolite”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Adjective

insolite

1. feminine plural of insolito

Latin

Adjective

īnsolite

1. vocative masculine singular of īnsolitus

References

• “insolite”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• insolite in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.