Etymologically
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nec

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnɛk][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnɛk][1]

Forms

nec (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is the shortened form of neque, itself from Latin ne- (“not”) + -que (“and”).[1][2][3] De Vaan notes that the word had two uses: the shortened conjunction “and not”, and a simple “not”, common in the oldest Latin.[3] They may be the same word, but the simple negative could also continue *ne-ke, with the particle of hic; in that case negō and neglegō could be formed directly from it.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The simple negative appears in the Twelve Tables: cui suus hērēs nec escit “who has no heir of his own”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin nec is used like neque: “and not”, “nor”, “not … either”, and nec … nec “neither … nor”; the choice between them was largely a matter of sound, but nec became the more common.[2] The old simple negative survives in set phrases and compounds: necopīnāns, negōtium (nec-ōtium), neglegō.[2][4]

Nec nōn (necnōn) means “and also”.[1][5]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – nec “not” in the Twelve Tables.[2][6]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ipsus neque amat nec tū crēduās.[2][6]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. And not, nor.[2][7]
  2. nec … nec, neither … nor.[2][7]
  3. Not … either; not even.[2][1]
  4. (archaic) Not.[2][3]
  5. nec nōn, and also, and indeed.[1][5]

Word family

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 h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson