Etymologically
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nanciscor

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [naŋˈkiːs.kɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [nan̠ʲˈt͡ʃis.kor][1]

Forms

nancīscor (present infinitive nancīscī or nancīscier, perfect active nactus sum or nānctus sum); third conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *nank-(i-), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂n-n-ḱ- (“to reach”), a nasal present of the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to reach”), with the inchoative suffix -scor added to an older present nancior.[2][3][1] The participle ⟨nactus⟩ continues *h₂nḱ-to-, and the form ⟨nānctus⟩ is later.[2] Cognate with Old Irish ro·ánaic (“has reached”), Sanskrit अश्नोति (aśnóti, “reaches, attains”) and Old English ġenōg (“enough”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[2] who has a character promise to share the booty he has got with the others.[4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5] An older nanciō is found in the Twelve Tables.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant to gain possession of, acquire or get, often by chance or without effort, and to obtain abstract things.[4][6] Ennius says bad men often gain virtue.[4][6] It also meant to get a wife or husband, to arrive at or reach a place, to come across or find something, and to meet with an experience.[4] By extension it meant to have by birth or nature, and to catch an illness.[1][7]

Its root is also that of Old English ġenōg, the source of English enough.[1][8]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables have the older present nanciō.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of getting booty.[4][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius says bad men often gain virtue.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of reaching Sicily.[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To get, acquire, obtain.[4]
  2. To get (a spouse).[4]
  3. To arrive at, reach (a place).[4]
  4. To come across, find.[4]
  5. To meet with, experience; to catch (an illness).[4][1]
  6. To have by birth or nature.[1][7]

Word family

  • nanciō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com