insultet

Insultet is a noun used in Norwegian and Danish to refer to an insult, that is, an offensive remark directed at another person. The form insultet is the definite singular in languages that mark nouns for definiteness and typically corresponds to “the insult” in English. The term is generally treated as a loanword from English.

Etymology: The English insult derives from Latin insultus, from in- “upon” + saltus “a leap, attack,” originally describing an attack with words or actions. The Norwegian and Danish forms developed from this loanword and are used alongside native equivalents such as fornærmelse in Norwegian.

Usage: In contemporary Norwegian, fornærmelse is the standard term for an insult. Insultet occurs mainly in borrowed contexts, in formal writing, or in translations of English-language texts. The term is usually avoided in everyday speech in favor of fornærmelse.

See also: Fornærmelse; Insult (English); Defamation.