molestus

Latin

Etymology

Seemingly from *melos, meles- n; -tus, with the first element an unattested neuter s-stem noun from the same root as mōlēs.^[1] Compare modestus.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [mɔˈɫɛs.tʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [moˈlɛs.tus]

Adjective

molestus (feminine molesta, neuter molestum, comparative molestior, superlative molestissimus); first/second-declension adjective

troublesome, irksome, grievous, annoying, tiresome
- 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Letters to Friends:
  propter molestissimās occupātiōnēs meās, quibus sī mē relaxārō (nam ut plānē exsolvam nōn postulō), tē ipsum, quī multōs annōs nihil aliud commentāris, docēbō profectō quid sit hūmāniter vīvere.
  Due to my most troublesome duties which if I slacken (for to be loose of them entirely is more than I can ask), then, no question about it, I shall teach you the art of civilized living, to which you have been giving your undivided attention for years!

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	molestus	molesta	molestum	molestī	molestae	molesta
genitive	molestī	molestae	molestī	molestōrum	molestārum	molestōrum
dative	molestō	molestae	molestō	molestīs
accusative	molestum	molestam	molestum	molestōs	molestās	molesta
ablative	molestō	molestā	molestō	molestīs
vocative	moleste	molesta	molestum	molestī	molestae	molesta

Derived terms

Descendants

Catalan: molest
Italian: molesto
Portuguese: molesto
Spanish: molesto

References

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “mōlēs”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 386

“molestus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“molestus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
“molestus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- I am pained, vexed, sorry: aegre, graviter, moleste fero aliquid (or with Acc. c. Inf. or quod)
- to be discontented, vexed at a thing; to chafe: aegre, graviter, moleste, indigne ferre aliquid

[1] De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “mōlēs”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 386

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