nonanus

Forms

nōnānus (feminine nōnāna, neuter nōnānum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nōnus (“ninth”) + -ānus, from the feminine ⟨nōna⟩ understood with legiō (“legion”).^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Tacitus,^[4] who in the Annals speaks of a mīles nōnānus, a soldier of the ninth legion.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It was a soldiers' word for the men of the ninth legion, as an adjective and, in the masculine plural, as a noun;^[2][3] Tacitus also uses the singular collectively for the whole legion in the Agricola.^[5][2]

Timeline

• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it as adjective and noun in the Annals and the Agricola.^[3][5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to the ninth legion.^[2][3][6]

Noun

1. A soldier of the ninth legion;^[2][3][6] (plural) the men of the ninth legion.^[2][3][6]
2. (collective singular) The ninth legion.^[2][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.