nosco

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin nōscum (“with us”), which replaced Latin nōbīscum, formed from nōbīs (“us”) and the postposition cum (“with”).^[2][3][4][1]

The sources explain the Late Latin form in two ways.^[5][2][6] Sabatini–Coletti, Gabrielli and the GDLI see a new compound of the accusative nōs (“we, us”) with the same postposition, since in Late Latin the preposition took the accusative.^[5][7][8][1] Nocentini, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli treat it as a shortened form of the classical word.^[2][3][4] Treccani explains the shortening by a shift of stress, helped by the parallel mēcum and tēcum.^[6] Devoto describes the loss of the /b/ and the simplification of the diphthong /oi/ to /o/.^[9] Tommaseo–Bellini note that an ancient grammarian condemned the Late Latin form, which shows that people used it.^[10]

It belongs with meco, teco, seco and vosco.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dante's Purgatorio: Euripide v'è nosco e Antifonte, “Euripides is with us there, and Antiphon”.^[3][4][8] Zingarelli dates it 1308 from another passage of the Purgatorio, where Ugolino d'Azzo is said to have vivette nosco, “lived among us”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed poetic: Tommaseo–Bellini say it belongs to verse only.^[10] The GDLI quotes it from Sannazaro and Trissino, and in prose from Bandello.^[8] Luigi Alamanni, Vincenzo Monti and Manzoni kept it: alfin nosco invocate il suo gran nome, “at last call on her great name with us”.^[10][4][6] Carducci wrote Poi nosco ti addurrem, “then we will bring you with us”.^[5]

Tommaso Grossi used it after a redundant con: con nosco.^[4][6] Beside “with us” the dictionaries record “among us, in our land”, “towards or against us” and “in our time”.^{[12][11][7][1]}

Timeline

• 1308 – Zingarelli's date for Dante's use in the Purgatorio.^[11]
• 1313–1319 – GRADIT's date for the line Euripide v'è nosco e Antifonte.^[3]
• 1861 – Tommaseo–Bellini call the word poetic only.^[10]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. (poetic, archaic) with us, together with us.^{[3][4][5][12][1]}
2. (by extension) among us, in our land.^[11][12][1]
3. (by extension) towards or against us.^[12][1]
4. (by extension) in our time.^[12][7][1]

Related words

• meco
• seco
• teco
• vosco
• noi
• Latin nobiscum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 297
10. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana