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nequeo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word nequeo

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Compound
First attested
280/260–before 200 BC, Livius Andronicus
Ultimate origin
Latin (neque,eō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin neque
Latin nequeo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnɛ.kʷe.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnɛː.kʷe.o][1]

Forms

nequeō (present infinitive nequīre, perfect active nequiī or nequīvī, supine nequitum); irregular conjugation[1] It is conjugated like eō: nequeō, nequīs, nequit, nequīmus, nequītis, nequeunt.[2] Livius Andronicus has the archaic third person plural nequinont.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin neque (“not”) + eō (“to go”).[1] The OLD and the TLL derive it from an impersonal phrase ⟨neque it⟩ or ⟨neque itur⟩, “it does not go, it cannot be done”, which became the personal verb “I cannot”.[2][4] The TLL adds that queō (“to be able”) was then made from it by back-formation, as sciō stands beside nesciō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Festus quotes the Odyssey of Livius Andronicus: partim errant, nequinont Graeciam redīre, “some wander, unable to return to Greece”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Nequeō means “to be unable, cannot”, mostly with an infinitive, which may be understood from the context (Plautus).[2] It also has a passive with a passive infinitive (ut nequītur comprimī!, Plautus, Cato), and with quīn means “to be unable to help (doing)”: nequeō quīn fleam, “I can't help weeping”.[2][3]

Church Latin glosses it “to be unable”.[5]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus: nequinont Graeciam redīre.[3][2][6]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: nequeō quīn fleam.[2][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato has the passive nequitum.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be unable, cannot (with infinitive).[2][3][1][5]
  2. (passive, with passive infinitive) It cannot be (done).[2]
  3. nequeō quīn, to be unable to keep from (doing).[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Nequeo.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/nequeo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·