Etymologically
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enervis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈnɛr.wɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈnɛr.vis][1]

Forms

ēnervis (neuter ēnerve, adverb ēnerviter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1] A second-declension form ēnervus is found in Apuleius.[2][3] The adverb is ēnerviter.[1][4]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- and nervus (“sinew”) with the adjective ending ⟨-is⟩;[2][1][3] compare ēnervō (“to enervate”).[1] De Vaan traces nervus to Proto-Italic *(s)nēuro- and Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁-ur (“sinew”).[5] Cognate with Sanskrit स्नावन् (snā́van, “sinew”) and Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “string, sinew”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Seneca,[6] who has it of a man in the Thyestes.[7]

Semantic evolution

It means devoid of energy, nerveless, feeble or languid;[2] Lewis & Short call it rare and post-Augustan, for ēnervātus.[7] Petronius' verse has an enfeebled body, Quintilian an effeminate and nerveless arrangement of words, and Tacitus a nerveless orator.[7] Pliny the Younger speaks of a languid and effeminate spectacle.[7] Of physical objects it is not taut, limp or slack, as Fronto's bows slackened by rain.[2] In Church Latin it means weak, nerveless, effeminate or unnerved.[4]

Timeline

  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of a man.[7][6]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius, of a body.[7][6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of style.[7][6]
  • 100–170 AD – Fronto, of slack bows.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Without energy, nerveless, feeble, languid, effeminate.[2][7][1][4]
  2. Of objects: not taut, limp, slack.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press