Etymologically
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neptis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnɛp.tɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnɛp.tis][1]

Forms

neptis f (genitive neptis); third declension[1] Curtius has the accusative neptim and Tacitus the ablative neptī.[2] Medieval Latin also has nepta and neptia.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *neptī-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂nep-t-ih₂ (“female descendant”), the feminine of the word continued in nepōs (“grandson”).[4][5][1] Cognate with Old Irish necht (“niece”) and Old High German nift (“niece”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Afranius.[4][6]

Semantic evolution

It means a granddaughter, as in Cicero's list of sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters.[2][7] Juvenal uses the plural for female descendants: “speak, you descendants of Lepidus or blind Metellus”.[2] Lewis & Short note that the word was originally of common gender, as an inscription with a masculine shows.[7] Church Latin keeps the sense granddaughter.[8] In medieval Latin it can mean a niece, or an aunt on the father's side.[3]

Timeline

  • 2nd half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it.[4][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of granddaughters.[7][6]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal of female descendants.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A granddaughter.[2][7][8][1]
  2. A female descendant.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A niece; an aunt on the father's side.[3]

Word family

  • abneptis
  • adneptis
  • nepticula
  • trineptis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson