nu
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ny/[1]
Forms
nu (feminine nue, masculine plural nus, feminine plural nues)[1] Old French nud, nut and nu (1080).[2]
Etymology
It is inherited from Old French nu, inherited from Latin nūdus (“unclothed; stripped of; bare, plain”).[2][3][4][1][5] Rey notes that Latin “nūdus” was sometimes used like Ancient Greek γυμνός (gumnós) for “lightly clad” and “unadorned”, and that it continues an Indo-European adjective also seen in Old Church Slavonic нагъ (nagŭ) and Lithuanian nuogas; the Petit Robert compares the Germanic form behind English naked and German nackt.[2][6] Wiktionary gives Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós.[1]
Cognate with Italian nudo, Old Occitan nut, Catalan nu and Portuguese nu.[7][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) the first record, os nut, means bones stripped of flesh; the same poem has a sword drawn from its scabbard: Durendal sa bone espée nue.[2][7]
Semantic evolution
“Unclothed” is found early in the 12th century, often strengthened as tout nu (1530) or nu comme un ver (about 1278); by extension it meant poorly dressed (1176–81), now archaic.[2] A horse without saddle or harness was nu (1590), and the unaided eye gave à œil nud (1690), later à l'œil nu.[2][8] Of things it means bare, unadorned (Wace, 1155): bare land (1609), a sparsely furnished room (1690), and, from the 16th century plain, stripped of ornament, of truth (1547) and of style (1549).[2] À nu dates from 1174–76.[2] As a noun le nu (1535) is a bare part of the body and, in art, the nude (1669).[2] The compounds nue-propriété (1765) and nu-pieds and the derivatives nudisme (1932) and nudiste (1929) followed.[2]
Timeline
- c. 1100 – Os nut, espée nue, Chanson de Roland.[2][7]
- Early 12th century – “Unclothed”.[2]
- 1155 – Of things, “bare”, Wace.[2]
- c. 1278 – Nu comme un ver.[2]
- 1547 – La vérité nue.[2]
- 1669 – Un nu, in art.[2]
- 1690 – À œil nud.[2]
- 1765 – Nue-propriété.[2]
Meanings
Adjective
- naked, nude: être tout nu, nu comme un ver.[6][1]
- bare, uncovered: pieds nus, tête nue, à mains nues.[6][7]
- Bare, unadorned: un mur nu, une pièce nue.[2][9]
- Plain, unvarnished: la vérité toute nue.[2][8]
- À l'œil nu: with the naked eye.[2][9]
- (law) Nue-propriété: ownership without usufruct.[2]
Noun
Word family
- nûment
- nudisme
- nudiste
- nu-pieds
- va-nu-pieds
- nue-propriété
Related words
- nudité
- dénuder
- dénuer
- Latin nūdus
Usage notes
Before a noun and joined with a hyphen, nu is invariable: nu-pieds, nu-tête, but pieds nus.[7] A separate noun nu is the Greek letter nu (Ν, ν), from Ancient Greek νῦ (nû), Tory wrote it gni in 1529, and the form nu is in the Encyclopédie (1765).[10][1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 228a
- ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
- ^ Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard