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nolo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnoː.ɫoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnɔː.lo][1]

Forms

nōlō (present infinitive nōlle, perfect active nōluī); irregular conjugation, suppletive, no passive, no gerund[1] Plautus has nevīs for nōn vīs and nevolt for nōn vult, and Caecilius nōltis.[2][3]

Etymology

It is contracted from ⟨*ne volō⟩, formed from Latin ne- + volō (“to want”), “not to want”.[2][4][1] De Vaan derives the verb from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, want”), comparing Sanskrit वृणीते (vṛṇīté, “chooses”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on: nōlō ego metuī, amārī mālō, “I do not want to be feared, I prefer to be loved”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Nōlle means “to be unwilling, not to want”, often “to refuse” or “not to intend”, and velim nōlim is “whether one likes it or not”.[2][5] With an accusative and infinitive or a subjunctive it means “to be unwilling that”, and nōllem “I wish it had not happened”.[2] With a simple accusative it means “not to want, not to care for”.[2]

The imperative nōlī, nōlīte with an infinitive forms a polite prohibition, “do not …” (nōlī īrāscī “don't be angry”).[2][1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: nōlō ego metuī, amārī mālō;[2] nōlī īrāscier.[2]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: nōlī metuere, “don't be afraid”.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: prōmīsisse nōllem, “I wish he had not promised”.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be unwilling, not to want;[2][3][1] to refuse.[2][5]
  2. velim nōlim, whether one likes it or not.[2]
  3. (with accusative and infinitive) To be unwilling that;[2] nōllem, I wish it had not happened.[2]
  4. (with accusative) Not to want, not to care for.[2]
  5. nōlī, nōlīte (with infinitive), do not …[2][1]

Word family

  • nolentia
  • nōluntās

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de