net

net¹ clean

Pronunciation

• Northern: [ˈne̞t]^[1]
• Balearic: [ˈnət]^[1]
• Central: [ˈnɛt]^[1]
• Northwestern, Valencia: [ˈnet]^[1]

Forms

net (feminine neta, masculine plural nets, feminine plural netes)^[1]

Etymology

The word for clean is inherited from Vulgar Latin *nittus, the form of Latin nitidus (“shining, bright; neat, clean”) with an early loss of the unstressed /i/ between the two dentals.^{[2][1][3][4][5]}

The medieval language also had Old Catalan nèdeu, from the same Latin word without the syncope, by the regular change of Latin -idu to -eu; that form was the commoner in the 13th and 14th centuries, and net prevailed from the end of the 14th.^[2] Its modern descendant is nèdol, a pasture not yet grazed.^[4][1]

French net and Occitan net show the same syncope;^[6] Italian netto and Spanish neto were borrowed from this Gallo-Romance and Catalan form, according to the REW, while Spanish dialect nidio and Portuguese nédio continue the full Latin form.^[6][2][7] The Latin adjective is formed on niteō (“to shine”); its sense “pure, clean” is first recorded about 400, in Marcellus Empiricus.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DECat's first record is the verse of Guillem de Cervera, of the middle of the 13th century;^[8] Bruguera and the GDLC cite it under the name Cerverí.^[2][4][5] Llull writes of the rose that is pura, neta e bella “pure, clean and beautiful”.^[8] Coromines suspected Provençal influence in the earliest poetic uses, but the Ordinacions of Peter III (1344) show the word in plain prose: coltells nets e ben taylants “clean, sharp knives”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Bernat Metge's Lo somni the word is used of clean water, of a man free of guilt, and of being without something; this last sense is the base of “net of deductions”, as in preu net and pes net.^[2] An inventory of 1499 already counts grain nets, after what had been borrowed was taken off.^[9] St Vincent Ferrer speaks of being clean of sins, the Tirant of a clear day, and Pou in 1575 of a hearth left empty.^[2]

The DCVB records rural senses: grass growing among crops and fed to cattle, a meadow not yet grazed, a patch of woodland without undergrowth.^[3] Wiktionary adds a term of the castells: a human tower built without its usual base or supports.^[1] The DIEC2 heads the adverb, “clearly, precisely”, and the DIEC1 the phrase jugar net “to play fair”.^[10][11]

Timeline

• mid-13th century – Guillem de Cervera.^[2]
• 1325 – Muntaner's verse sermon uses net for “properly, perfectly”.^[2]
• 1344 – the Ordinacions of Peter III: coltells nets e ben taylants.^[2]
• 1387 – an ordinance tells dyers to leave cloth bell e net.^[2]
• 1399 – Bernat Metge's Lo somni: aiga clara e neta.^[2]
• 1499 – an inventory of Almenar counts grain nets of what had been borrowed.^[9]
• 1575 – Pou's dictionary uses neta for an empty hearth.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. clean: free of dirt or stains: Tinc les sabates netes.^[5][3][1]
2. Of a person: who keeps himself and his things clean.^[3][5]
3. (figurative) Morally clean, free of guilt or sin.^[5][3]
4. Free of something; clear, empty.^[3][5]
5. Of an amount: net, after deductions: preu net, pes net.^[3][2][1]
6. Clear, precise, not confused.^[3]
7. (castells) Of a human tower: built without its usual base or supports.^[1]
8. (rural) Of a meadow: not yet grazed.^[3]

Adverb

1. Clearly, precisely.^[10][12]
2. jugar net: to play fair.^[11]

Word family

• netament
• netedat
• netejar
• neteja
• netejada
• netejador

net² grandson

Pronunciation

• Northern: [ˈne̞t]^[1]
• Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia: [ˈnet]^[1]

Forms

net m (plural nets, feminine neta, feminine plural netes)^[1] The DCVB and the DIEC2 head the word as nét, néta, with an accent that sets it apart from the adjective, and Wiktionary lists nét as an alternative spelling.^[13][14][1] In Balearic the noun is pronounced with /e/, the adjective with /ə/.^[1]

Etymology

The word for the grandson is inherited from Vulgar Latin *neptus, a masculine made in the Latin of the Iberian Peninsula on the feminine *nepta (“granddaughter”), a form of Latin neptis (“granddaughter; niece”) with the commoner ending.^[15][16] The DCVB and Wiktionary instead take the masculine to be a Catalan formation on the feminine.^[13][1]

Spanish and Portuguese have the same pair, Spanish nieto and Portuguese neto beside their feminines.^[16][17] Latin nepōs and its feminine meant both grandchild and nephew or niece;^[1] Catalan, Spanish and Portuguese separated the two senses, and Catalan kept nebot for the nephew.^[15] The Latin feminine goes back to Proto-Indo-European *néptih₂ (“grandchild”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

CICA's first record is in the Catalan Usatges de Barcelona, of the first half of the 13th century.^[18] In Jaume I's chronicle the king says he cannot fail a ma fiyla ni a mos nets “my daughter or my grandchildren”, and speaks of don Nuno qui és nét del comte de Barcelona.^[15][9]

Semantic evolution

The sense has not changed: Pou's dictionary of 1575 defines the word as the son of a son or daughter.^[15] About 1934 the word was unknown in some villages of the Pallars, such as Tavascan, Esterri and Àreu, where nebot meant both grandson and nephew, and Àreu said renebot for the grandson.^[15] The DIEC2 adds a male descendant from the grandchildren on, and, in the plural, the generations to come.^[14] The compound besnet “great-grandson” is in the Costums de Tortosa, and rebesnet in 1575.^[15]

Timeline

• first half of the 13th century – the Catalan Usatges de Barcelona.^[18]
• 1244–1274 – Jaume I's chronicle: nét del comte de Barcelona.^[15]
• 1272 – besnet in the Costums de Tortosa.^[15]
• 1460 – in the Tirant a woman fears it will be said de mon net me so enamorada.^[9]
• 1575 – Pou's dictionary glosses the word with Latin nepos.^[15]
• 1851 – Escrig gives the Spanish equivalent nieto in two senses.^[19]

Meanings

Noun

1. grandson (feminine neta, granddaughter): the child of one's son or daughter: La meva àvia té set nets.^[14][13][1]
2. A male descendant, counting from the grandchildren on.^[14][13]
3. (in the plural) The generations to come.^[14][5]

Word family

• besnet
• rebesnet