gnarus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈnaː.rʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɲaː.rus]^[1]

Forms

gnārus (feminine gnāra, neuter gnārum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *gnāro- (“knowing”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵnh₃-ro- (“knowing”), from the root *ǵneh₃- “to know” of nōscō.^[2][1] Cognate with Umbrian naratu (“let him recite”), which shows the same stem as a verb, and with Ancient Greek γνώριμος (gnṓrimos, “well-known”).^[2] The adjective kept its initial /g/ on the model of ignārus “ignorant”, while the verb narrō “to tell”, from *gnārāre, lost it.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus, and Varro has a form nārus when explaining narrō.^[2][3][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant having knowledge or experience of something, usually with a genitive, as Cicero's gnārus reī pūblicae “versed in public affairs”.^[3][5] With passive force it also meant “known, familiar”, as places known to the Vitellians in Tacitus.^[3]

Medieval writers used it for “wise, knowledgeable”, also as a noun.^[6] Its verb narrāre gave English narrate in 1748, a word long stigmatized in English as Scottish.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro has the form nārus.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero calls a man versed in public affairs gnārus reī pūblicae.^[5][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it passively, “known”.^[3][4]
• 1748 – English narrate is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having knowledge or experience (of), acquainted (with), versed (in).^[3]
2. Known, familiar.^[3]

Word family

• gnārigō
• gnāritās
• ignārus
• naritas
• pergnārus
• prōgnāriter

Related words

• nōscō
• narrō
• English narrate

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com