Insult
mid 16th century (as a verb in the sense ‘exult, act arrogantly’): from Latin insultare ‘jump or trample on’, from in- ‘on’ + saltare, from salire ‘to leap’. The noun (in the early 17th century denoting an attack) is from French insulte or ecclesiastical Latin insultus . The main current senses date from the 17th century, the medical use dating from the early 20th century.
wiktionary
The verb is derived from Middle French insulter (modern French insulter(“to insult”)) or its etymonLatin 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”)). [1]
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. [2]
etymonline
insult (v.)
1560s, "triumph over in an arrogant way" (obsolete), from French insulter "to wrong; reproach; triumph arrogantly over," earlier "to leap upon" (14c.) and directly from Latin insultare "to assail, to make a sudden leap upon," which was used by the time of Cicero in sense of "to insult, scoff at, revile," frequentative of insilire "leap at or upon," from in- "on, at" (from PIE root *en "in") + salire "to leap" (see salient (adj.)).
Sense of "verbally abuse, affront, assail with disrespect, offer an indignity to" is from 1610s. Related: Insulted; insulting.
insult (n.)
c. 1600, "an attack;" 1670s as "an act of insulting, contemptuous treatment," from French insult (14c.) or directly from Late Latin insultus "insult, scoffing," noun use of past participle of insilire, literally "to leap at or upon" (see insult (v.)). The older noun was insultation (1510s). To add insult to injury translates Latin injuriae contumeliam addere.
