νῦν

Forms

νῦν (nûn) ^[1] Enclitic νυν (nun), νυ (nu).^[2][3] Attic νυνί (nuní), with the deictic -ί of ὁδί (hodí).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”), an old adverb kept in most branches of Indo-European.^[2][4][1] The final ν may continue either an old *-m, as in Latin num, or an *-n, as in Sanskrit नूनम् (nūnám).^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit नु (nú), Latin nunc (“now”), Old High German nū, Lithuanian nù, Hittite nu and kinun (“now”), and through Proto-Germanic *nu with the English word now.^[2][1][4] Some scholars also put it with νέος (néos, “new”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means “now”, of the present time (“mortals as they are now”), of the moment just past and of the moment about to come, and, opposed to what might have been, “as it is”.^[6][3][7]

Semantic evolution

With the article it became an adjective and a noun: οἱ νῦν “the people of today”, τὸ νῦν and τὰ νῦν “now”, and τὸ νῦν εἶναι “for the time being” in Isocrates, Plato and Xenophon.^[7][3] Aristotle uses τὸ νῦν for “the present” in his account of time.^[3] The stronger νῦν δή is common in Plato.^[3] The Septuagint has ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν “from now on”.^[3]

In Modern Greek νυν (nyn) is a learned word, used in the church phrase “now and ever” and, with the article, for “current”, as of an office holder.^[8][5]

Timeline

• 700s BC – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the present, the recent past and the near future.^[6][3]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses οἱ νῦν for the people of his own day.^[3][7][9]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it as an adjective, “the present fashion”.^[3][7][9]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses τὸ νῦν for “the present” in his discussion of time.^[3][9]
• Modern Greek – The learned νυν (nyn) means “now” and, with the article, “current”.^[8]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Now, at this moment.^[7][3]
2. At the present time, nowadays; with the article, of the present (οἱ νῦν, “people of today”).^[7][3]
3. Just now, a moment ago.^[7][3]
4. Presently, in the immediate future.^[7][3]
5. (usually with δέ) As it is, in fact, as opposed to what might have been.^[7][3]
6. (enclitic νυν, νυ) Then, now, in questions and exhortations.^[3]

Related words

• Latin nunc
• English now

Usage notes

Ammonius reports a distinction from Heraclides: νῦν, as an adverb of time, is used of the present, the past and the future.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)