Etymologically
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neo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈne.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnɛː.o][1]

Forms

neō (present infinitive nēre, perfect active nēvī, supine nētum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *(s)nē(je)-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- (“to spin”).[2][1] Cognate with Ancient Greek νῆν (nên, “to spin”) and νήθω (nḗthō), Middle Irish sníid (“spins”), Welsh nyddu (“to spin”), Latvian snāt (“to twist loosely”) and Old High German nāen (“to sew”).[2][3][4] De Vaan cannot decide whether Latin continues the root present or a derivative in *-ie/o-, perhaps shared with Celtic.[2] nervus “sinew” and natrix “water snake” are related.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who speaks of spinning a fine weft.[2][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to spin fibre or thread, and to produce a fabric by spinning, as Virgil's tunic that a mother had spun with soft gold.[4] The Fates spin the threads of life, as Ovid's fatal goddesses who spun strong threads.[5][4] Pliny the Elder uses it of intertwining.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of spinning a weft.[5][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil describes a tunic spun with gold.[4][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid speaks of the Fates spinning.[5][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To spin (fibre or thread).[4]
  2. To produce (a fabric) by spinning, (of the Fates) to spin a destiny.[4]
  3. To intertwine.[7]

Word family

  • nēmen
  • netus
  • perneō
  • reneō

Usage notes

It is distinct from the Boeotian name Neō in Livy.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.