incolumity means safety; security. It carries an Arena rating of 1633, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, incolumity ranks #1,306 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #1,498 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #4,015 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #5,450 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
Why “incolumity” is a great word
A state of being whole, unharmed, and free from danger, with an emphasis on preserved integrity. From the Latin incolumitas ("safety, security"), from incolumis ("uninjured, safe"), perhaps from in- (an intensifier) + columis ("safe"). First attested in English in 1534. Unlike "safety"—a common, utilitarian term for freedom from harm—or "immunity"—a specific exemption from a particular threat—incolumity is the formal, archaic assertion of an unbroken condition. It is the unbroken statue after the earthquake, the traveler arriving home with no new scars, the ancient manuscript surviving fire and flood with every vellum leaf intact—the quiet, profound fact of remaining, against all odds, undiminished.
Etymology
From Latin incolumitas, from incolumis (“uninjured, safe”), perhaps from in (“intensifier”) + (doubtful) columis (“safe”).
noun
- safety; securitye.g.“such an action as that, which concern'd the incolumity and peace of all the Westerne world” — 1640, I. H. [i.e., James Howell], ΔΕΝΔΡΟΛΟΓΊΑ [DENDROLOGIA]. Dodona’s Grove, or, The Vocall Forrest, London: […] T[homas] B[adger] for H. Mosley [i.e., Humphrey Moseley] […], →OCLC:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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