nefarie

Forms

nefāriē (adverb)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nefārius (“wicked, abominable”) + -ē.^[1] De Vaan derives nefārius from nefās (“an offence against divine law”), the negative of fās, which he traces to Proto-Italic *faos and Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-os (“saying, utterance”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[3] In the speeches against Verres Cicero speaks of doing something wickedly and shamefully.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It means wickedly, foully, monstrously.^[1][4] Cicero uses it of plotting ruin against the fatherland and of a father wickedly murdered.^[4] Köbler also finds it in the Bible.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of wicked deeds, plots and a murder.^[4][5][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Wickedly, impiously, foully, heinously.^[1][4][6]

Related words

• nefārius
• nefās
• fās

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn