LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

īnsānus

īnsānus (feminine īnsāna, neuter īnsānum, comparative īnsānior, superlative īnsānissimus)
Classical[ĩːˈsaː.nʊs]Ecclesiastical[inˈsaː.nus]

Meaning

  1. adjectivemad, insane, demented
    aristophontes: Quid tu autem? Etiam huic credis? hegio: Quid ego credam huic? aristophontes: Insanum esse me?aristophontes: How’s this? You, too? Do you actually believe him? hegio: Believe him in what? aristophontes: That I’m insane?c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 3.4.24
    Quid ais? Quid si adeam hunc insanum?See here, what if I should step up to this lunatic?c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 3.4.80

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Amens · Demens · Insanus · Vesanus · Excors · Vecors · Furor · Delirium · Rabies · Cerritus · Lymphatus

1. Amentia shows itself negatively and passively; dementia, positively and energetically. The amens is without reason, and either acts not at all, or acts without reason, like the idiot, ἄφρων; the demens, while he fancies that he is doing right, acts in direct opposition to reason, like the madman, παράφρων. Hence, amens metu, terrore; demens scelere, discordia, etc. 2. Insanus has a privative; vesanus, a depravative meaning. The insanus in his passion oversteps the measure and bounds of right, and gives one the impression of a guilty person; the vesanus, in his delusion, wanders from the right path, follows a false object, and gives one the impression of an unfortunate person. 3. Excors means of weak understanding in general, without the ability of reflecting and examining, in opp. to cordatus; vecors means, of a perverted understanding, without the ability of reflecting calmly, from the mind being taken up with one fixed idea. 4. Furor (fervere) denotes mental irritation, ecstasy, as raging, μανικός; delirium (ληρεῖν), a physical and childish remission of the mental faculties; rabies (ῥαβάσσειν, ἄραβος), a half-moral condition of a passionate insanity, as frantic, λύσσα. The furibundus forgets the bounds of sense, the delirus babbles nonsense, the rabidus will bite and injure when he can. 5. Cerritus and lymphatus betoken frenzy, as a demoniacal state, as possessed, cerritus or ceritus, by Ceres, lymphatus, by the nymphs; they may also be considered as derived from κόρυζα, mucus narium, and from λέμφος, mucus, as symbols of stupidity. (v. 89.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeīnsānusīnsānaīnsānum
genitiveīnsānīīnsānaeīnsānī
dativeīnsānōīnsānaeīnsānō
accusativeīnsānumīnsānamīnsānum
ablativeīnsānōīnsānāīnsānō
vocativeīnsāneīnsānaīnsānum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeīnsānīīnsānaeīnsāna
genitiveīnsānōrumīnsānārumīnsānōrum
dativeīnsānīsīnsānīsīnsānīs
accusativeīnsānōsīnsānāsīnsāna
ablativeīnsānīsīnsānīsīnsānīs
vocativeīnsānīīnsānaeīnsāna

in-sānus, a, um, adj.,
I. unsound in mind.
I. Lit., mad, insane (syn.: furiosus, fanaticus): quod idem contigit insanis, Cic. Ac. 2, 17, 52: si fecisset Juno maritum insanum, Juv. 6, 620. —
II. Transf., that acts like a madman, raging, raving, foolish, frantic.
A. Ex stultis insanos facere, Ter. Eun. 2, 2, 23: acrior et insanior cupiditas, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 18, § 39: insanissima concio, id. Mil. 17, 45: homo insanissimus, id. Rosc. Am. 12, 33: uter est insanior horum? Hor. S. 2, 3, 102.—
2. Transf., of inanim. and abstr. things: caedis insana cupido, Verg. A. 9, 760: amor duri Martis, id. E. 10, 44: insano verba tonare foro, i. e. where there is a great bustle, Prop. 4 (5), 1, 134. omnis et insana semita nocte sonat, i. e. of women raving about, id. 4 (5), 8, 60: insani enses, Calp. Ecl. 1, 59: fluctus, Verg. E. 9, 43: venti, Tib. 2, 4, 9: vires Austri, Ov. M. 12, 510: insana Caprae sidera, Hor. C. 3, 7, 6. —
B. That causes madness (cf. "The insane root, that takes the reason prisoner," Shaks. Macb. 1, 3): laurum insanam vocant, quoniam si quid ex ea decerptum inferatur navibus, jurgia fiunt, donec abiciatur, Plin. 16, 44, 89, § 239: herba, that produces madness, Ser. Samm. 20: fames, that drives one to madness, Luc. 7, 413.—
C. Outrageous, monstrous, violent, extravagant, excessive: substructionum insanae moles, Cic. Mil. 31, 85: substructiones Capitolii insanae, Plin. 36, 14, 2, § 104: labor, Verg. A. 6, 135: trepidatio, Liv. 32, 17, 16: cum stupet insanis acies fulgoribus, Hor. S. 2, 2, 5: vites, that bear excessively, three times, Plin. 16, 27, 50, § 115; cf. adv., 3. insanum. —
D. Enthusiastic, enraptured, inspired: vates, Verg. A. 3, 443. — Adv., in three forms.
1. insānē.
a. Madly, insanely: amare, Plaut. Curc. 1, 3, 20. — Comp.: in silvam non ligna feras insanius, Hor. S. 1, 10, 34.—Sup.: insanissime desperare, Aug. Ep. 238.—
b. Outrageously, excessively: esuriens insane bene, Plaut. Mil. 1, 1, 24; cf. Varr. L. L. 7, § 86 Müll.—
2. in-sānĭter, madly, violently, excessively: ludit nimium insaniter, Pomp. ap. Non. 509, 31; Prisc. p. 1010 P.—
3. insānum, outrageously, vehemently, excessively: insanum malum = pessimum, Plaut. Trin. 3, 2, 47: porticus, insanum bona, id. Most. 3, 3, 5: magnum molior negotium, id. Bacch. 4, 5, 1: valde, id. Fragm. ap. Non. 127, 26.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinīnsānus

Proto-Italic *sānos Latin sānus Latin īnsānus From in- + sānus (“healthy, sound”).

Descendants
  • Catalaninsà
  • Englishinsane
  • Frenchinsane
  • Germaninsan
  • Italianinsano
  • Portugueseinsano
  • Spanishinsano

Quick answers

What does īnsānus mean in Latin?
īnsānus, a adjective, means “mad, insane, demented”.
How do you pronounce īnsānus?
In classical Latin, [ĩːˈsaː.nʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [inˈsaː.nus].
Where does īnsānus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *né → Proto-Indo-European *n̥- → Proto-Italic *n̥- → Latin īnsānus.