noenum

Forms

noenum (negative particle)^[1] Also noenu.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ne¹ (“not”) + ūnus (“one”):^[2][1] an Old Latin ⟨*ne-oinom⟩ “not one”, with the old neuter of the numeral.^[4][1] The same phrase, contracted, gave nōn, which is often regarded as derived from it.^[4][2] The OLD suggests that the variant ⟨noenu⟩ stands for a masculine ⟨*noenus⟩, as ⟨rursum⟩ stands beside ⟨rursus⟩.^[2]

The parts go back to Proto-Indo-European *né (“not”) and Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”).^[1] An equivalent formation is Proto-Germanic *nainaz, the source of English none.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus, where a character in the Aulularia says “noenum ... queo comminisci”, “I cannot think” what to tell his master.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It was an archaic equivalent of nōn.^[2][3] Ennius, Lucilius and Varro used it, and Lucretius took it up as an archaism (noenu potest, “it cannot”).^[3][2]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the Aulularia.^[2][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses noenu in the Annals.^[3][5]
• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses noenu.^[2][3][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses noenu in De rerum natura.^[2][3][5]

Meanings

Particle

1. (Old Latin) not, the same as nōn.^[2][3][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de