insult

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle French insulter (modern French insulter (“to insult”)) or its etymon Latin īnsultāre, present active infinitive of 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”)). The noun is derived from Middle French insult (modern French insulte (“insult”)) or its etymon Late Latin insultus (“insult, reviling, scoffing”), from īnsiliō (“to bound; to leap in or upon”); see above.

verb

1. (transitive) To be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (somebody); to affront or demean (someone).
2. (transitive, also figurative, obsolete) To assail, assault">assault, or attack">attack; (specifically, military) to carry out an assault">assault, attack">attack, or onset without preparation.
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (against or over someone).
   And doe you ſe how he inſulteth ouer me, as though hee had gotten a great aduantage, and how hee taketh heere his reuenge vpon me, for the ſhipwracke hee ſuffered before, in the matter of his ſyllogyſme? 1609, “P. R.” [i.e., Robert Persons], “The First Chapter Ansvvering to the First of M. Thomas Mortons Three Vaine Inquiryes, Concerning the Witt, Memorie, Learning, Charitie, Modestie, and Truth of His Aduersarie, P. R.”, in A Qviet and Sober Reckoning vvith M. Thomas Morton Somewhat Set in Choler by His Aduersary P. R.[…], [Saint-Omer, France: s.n.], →OCLC, §IIII (Another Vaine Contention Brought by M. Morton about Skill in Logike), page 37
4. (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To leap or trample upon.

noun

1. (uncountable) Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect.
   Preſent we meet thy ſneaking treacherous ſmiles; The harmleſs abſent ſtill thy ſneer reviles; Such as in thee all parts ſuperior find, The ſneer that marks the fool and knave combin'd; When melting pity would afford relief a. 1744, Richard Savage, “London and Bristol Delineated”, in Samuel Johnson, The Works of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland.[…], volume V, Dublin: Printed for J. Moore,[…], published 1800, →OCLC, lines 41–46, page 259, column 2
   … I will, however, enjoin you / Never to submit tamely to insults from any one! for, although I strongly urge you to show every possible respect and deference to all who are your superiors, as indeed due to them, I wish you to remember that, should they return you insults for such consistent conduct, it will be manly in you, after having given them a chance, by your calm and dignified remonstrance, to repair the injury, to resent the (by such an omission) enlarged offence, for thereupon no one can blame you if you firmly persevere in your efforts to obtain reparation. 1835, Lt. Col. Baron de Berenger [i.e., Charles Random, Baron de Bérenger Beaufain], “Letter XII. On Character Generally, and on Manliness Especially.”, in Helps and Hints How to Protect Life and Property.[…], London: Published for the proprietor, by T. Hurst,[…], →OCLC, page 179
   To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people! 15 July 1988, John Cleese, A Fish Called Wanda, spoken by Archie Leach (John Cleese)
2. (countable) Something that causes offence (for example, by being of an unacceptable quality).
   The way the orchestra performed tonight was an insult to my ears.
   The story we will share in the pages of this book, you as the reader and I as the author, contains a modicum of mathematics. I have used it sparingly, and judiciously, but to eliminate it altogether would have been dishonest, a form of intellectual deception and condescension, and an insult to your curiosity and intelligence. 2011, Thomas Grissom, “A Note to the Reader”, in The Physicist’s World: The Story of Motion and the Limits to Knowledge, Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, page ix
3. (countable, uncountable, medicine) Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes; the injury so caused.
   The exact nature of the teratological insult in diabetic pregnancy, and the cell biological details of the induced disturbances, are not known. 1996, Ulf J. Eriksson, “Embryo Development in Diabetic Pregnancy”, in Anne Dornhorst, David R. Hadden, editors, Diabetes and Pregnancy: An International Approach to Diagnosis and Management, Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, page 65
   [M]ost investigators agreed with the characterization of early brain plasticity as a transiently available, ancillary system that is triggered by neural insult, and that serves, most importantly, as a means of shielding the developing organism from the potentially debilitating effects of neural insult. 2006, Joan Stiles, Pamela Moses, Brianna M. Paul, “The Longitudinal Study of Spatial Cognitive Development in Children with Pre- or Perinatal Focal Brain Injury:[…]”, in Stephen G. Lomber, Jos J. Eggermont, editors, Reprogramming the Cerebral Cortex: Plasticity following Central and Peripheral Leisons, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, page 415
   Within the complex genome of most organisms there are alternative multiple pathways of proteins which can help the individual cell survive a variety of insults, for example radiation, toxic chemicals, heat, excessive or reduced oxygen. 2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, “What Cells Can Do”, in The Cell: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions), Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, page 96
4. (countable, also figurative, archaic) An assault or attack; (specifically, military, obsolete) an assault, attack, or onset carried out without preparation.
   The government was continually expoſed to the inſults of a faction, and deſtitute of the neceſſary reſources. 1784, “From the Accession of James to the English Crown, to the Battle of Kilrush, in the Reign of Charles I”, in The History of Ireland, from the Earliest Authentic Accounts.[…], Dublin: Printed for Luke White,[…], →OCLC, page 226
5. (countable, obsolete) An act of leaping upon.