Monday, January 28, 2013

intemerate

intemerate \in-TEM-er-it\, adjective:

Inviolate; undefiled; unsullied; pure.

The rain smelled cool and earthy, and with her eyes closed it sounded louder and nearer; it seemed to be in the room, falling small and touchless upon her; it was clear, intemerate as the sky.
-- Fred Chappell, The Inkling
Did you know, sir, that I can trace my intemerate ancestry to Adam through the paternal line, and to Eve through the maternal line?
-- Andrew Drummond, Handbook of Volapük

Intemerate comes from the Latin root emerā which meant "to violate, desecrate." The prefix in- means "not" as in the words indefensible and inexpensive.

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