Etymologically
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nervosus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:52. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [nɛrˈwoː.sʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [nerˈvɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

nervōsus (feminine nervōsa, neuter nervōsum, comparative nervōsior); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from nervus “sinew, tendon” with the suffix -ōsus.[2][1][3] Medieval manuscripts sometimes spell it ⟨nervios-⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot and Lewis and Short cite Lucretius' nervōsa et lignea “sinewy and wooden”, of a scraggy woman.[4][5] Köbler's first source is Catullus; he dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant full of sinews or tendons, sinewy, tough, as Ovid's sinewy knee, of plants fibrous, as in Pliny, and of persons stringy, scraggy, as in Lucretius.[2][5] Of persons and their activity it meant vigorous, energetic, and of style forceful, as in Cicero.[2]

British Medieval Latin used it in anatomy of what is composed of nerves.[7] English nervous came in the late 14th century, first “containing nerves, affecting the sinews”, and later “vigorous”.[8] It survives in Italian nervoso and French nerveux.[1]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a scraggy woman.[2][5][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of forceful style.[2][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a sinewy knee.[5][6]
  • late 14th century – English nervous is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sinewy, muscular; fibrous; stringy.[2]
  2. Vigorous, energetic; of style, forceful.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin, anatomy) Of nerves.[7]

Word family

  • nervōsē

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  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 Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com