Etymologically
Log in

nisi

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 18:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
← Previous version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈnɪ.siː], [ˈnɪ.sɪ][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈniː.s̬i][1]

Forms

nisī̆ [1]

Etymology

It is probably the negative ne- with sī (“if”); the old forms are ⟨nesi⟩ (Plautus, cited by Festus), ⟨nesei⟩, ⟨nisei⟩ and ⟨noisi⟩ in early inscriptions.[2][3] Wiktionary analyses it as nī (“not”) + ⟨sī⟩.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius on.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Nisi means “unless, if not, except if”; with the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive “if it were not (had not been) that”.[2][5] In oaths it means “if it is not true that” (dī mē interficiant nisi …), and after a negative, without a verb, “except, but” (nōn nisi “only”).[2][6]

Medieval Latin also used it for “but”, after a comparative for “than”, and as an adverb for “only”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – First found in Naevius.[3][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the old form nesi and the oath dī … mē interficiant nisi.[2][4]
  • c. 550–1150 – Medieval Latin uses it for “than” and “only”.[7]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. unless, if not, except if.[2][5]
  2. Unless perhaps (suggesting another possibility).[2]
  3. If it were not (had not been) that.[2]
  4. (after a negative) Except, but: nōn nisi, only.[2][6]
  5. (Medieval Latin) But; than; only.[7]

Word family

  • nisī quod

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill