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abnuo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word abnuo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*new-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈab.nu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈab.nu.o][1]

Forms

abnuō (present infinitive abnuere, perfect active abnuī, supine abnuitum); third conjugation[1] Ennius has forms of a second-conjugation abnueō.[2][3] Sallust has the future participle abnuitūrus.[4][2]

Etymology

It is formed from ab- (“away”) and the verb ⟨-nuō⟩ “to nod”, found only in compounds, so literally “to nod away, refuse by a nod”.[4][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨-nuō⟩ to Proto-Italic *nowe/o- and Proto-Indo-European *new-e/o- (“to nod”), with Ancient Greek νεύω (neúō, “to nod, beckon”) and Old Irish as·noí (“promises”).[3] The noun nūmen (“nod; divine will”) is from the same verb.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author.[3] In the Captivi a parasite asks his friends “where are we dining?” and they shake their heads (abnuont).[4]

Semantic evolution

It is first a gesture, to throw back the head in refusal, and so in Virgil Jupiter's ban on Italy fighting the Trojans.[4] It is then to refuse or decline to do something, as Sallust's weary soldiers refusing every task and Cicero's “I do not refuse, I do not decline”, to reject an offer, to disown a name, and to deny an assertion or one's guilt (Cicero, Tacitus).[4][2] It is also to refuse to grant, as a meeting not refused, in Livy.[4]

Church Latin glosses it “deny, refuse by nod of the head, reject”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of shaking one's head.[4][3][6]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius has the form abnueō.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of refusing and denying.[4][6]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of soldiers refusing duties.[4][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of Jupiter's prohibition.[4][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To shake one's head, signal refusal; to forbid.[4][1][5]
  2. To refuse, decline (to do something).[4][1]
  3. To reject (an offer); to disown.[4][1][5]
  4. To deny (an assertion, one's guilt).[4][1][5]
  5. To refuse to grant.[4]

Word family

  • abnuitiō
  • abnūtīvus
  • abnutō

Usage notes

Its opposite is adnuō, “to nod assent”.[1][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Abnuo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/abnuo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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