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Etymology and origin of the Latin word nodo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin nōdus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin nodus
English node
Latin nodo
From the same root
Latin nodosus ← nodus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnoː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnɔː.do][1]

Forms

nōdō (present infinitive nōdāre, perfect active nōdāvī, supine nōdātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nōdus (“knot”) + -ō, a verb formed from the noun.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cato's treatise on farming,[3][2] where the vines are to be well furnished with joints (vītēs bene nōdentur).[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the joints of plants (in Pliny the Elder, giant fennel with jointed stalks, and cornel wood cut with notches),[2][4] it meant to tie in a knot: Virgil has hair tied up into gold (crīnēs nōdantur in aurum), and Pliny nets knotted with amber.[2][4] Poets extended it to binding and fettering, as in Ovid's lover with his neck tied in a noose,[2][4] and Statius used it of wrestlers locked together and of a winding stream.[2][4] Ambrose still uses it of animals bound with bands.[4]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of vines furnished with joints.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of hair tied into a knot.[2][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a neck tied in a noose.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes of nets knotted with amber.[2][5]
  • c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it.[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To tie in a knot or knots.[2][3]
  2. (poetic) To bind, fetter; to twist like a knot.[4]
  3. (passive) To be furnished with joints or nodes.[2][3]

Word family

  • adnōdō
  • ēnōdō
  • innōdō
  • nōdāmen
  • nōdātiō
  • renōdō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Nodo.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/nodo. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·