ningit

Forms

ningit (present infinitive ningere, perfect nīnxit); third conjugation, impersonal^[2][3][4] Also spelled ninguit.^[2][3][5] Georges heads it as a verb ningo (ninguo), of which ningit is the impersonal use.^[6] Pacuvius has a form nīvit “it snows”.^[7] An impersonal passive ninguitur occurs in Apuleius.^[4][5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sningʷ- (“to snow”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sneigʷʰ-e/o- (“to snow”).^[7] De Vaan also reconstructs a Proto-Italic present *sneiwe/o- and regards the nasal present of Latin as probably secondary.^[7] The noun for snow, nix, belongs to the same root.^[7][2]

Cognate with Old Irish snigid (“to snow”), Ancient Greek νείφει (neíphei, “it is snowing”) and Lithuanian sniñga (“it snows”), and with the nouns Middle Welsh nyf (“snow”), Latvian snìegs and Old High German snēo (“snow”).^[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Accius (170–c. 90 BC) on.^[7][8] In a fragment of Accius it is transitive, of the heavens being made to fall like snow: “cum ninxerint caelestium molem mihi”.^[5][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Its usual use is impersonal, “it snows”, as in Virgil's Georgics and Columella.^[2][3][4] Lucretius uses it personally and figuratively, of people who shower down rose petals like snow (ningunt rosarum floribus).^[4][5][6]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it transitively, of making the heavens fall like snow.^[7][5][4][8]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a shower of roses.^[4][5][8]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil has toto non setius aere ningit (“it snows no less over the whole sky”).^[5][4][8]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses the impersonal verb.^[3][4][8]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius has the passive ninguitur.^[4][5][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (impersonal) It snows.^[2][3]
2. (transitive) To let fall like snow.^[4][5]
3. (figurative) To shower (with flowers) like snow.^[4][6]

Related words

• nix
• ninguis
• niveus
• English snow

References

1. ^ a b 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 d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de