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insult

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈsʌlt/

The English word “insult” has 9 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (somebody); to affront or demean (someone).
  2. To assail, assault, or attack; (specifically, military) to carry out an assault, attack, or onset without preparation.
  3. To behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (against or over someone).
  4. To leap or trample upon.

noun

  1. Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect.
  2. Something that causes offence (for example, by being of an unacceptable quality).
  3. Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes; the injury so caused.
  4. An assault or attack; (specifically, military, obsolete) an assault, attack, or onset carried out without preparation.
  5. An act of leaping upon.

Etymology

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…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.