nonna

Forms

nonna f (genitive nonnae, masculine nonnus); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nonnus (“monk; tutor”), its feminine.^[1][2][3] Etymonline says that both were at first terms of address for elderly people, perhaps from children's speech, and compares Welsh nain (“grandmother”);^[4] Wiktionary compares Ancient Greek νόννος (nónnos, “father”).^[1] Niermeyer gives its source as a Vulgar Latin word for “mama”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a letter of Jerome it is a respectful term for religious women.^[2][3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Besides the nun, an inscription of the city of Rome uses it for a woman who brought up a child, a nurse.^[2][3] It became the ordinary word for a nun in Christian and Medieval Latin, in councils and capitularies and in charters;^[5][8][7] in England Ælfric glosses it with Old English nunne.^[9] The Old English word came from it,^[4] and so did French nonne and Italian nonna (“grandmother”).^[1]

A late British word list also gives nonna as the name of the blue tit.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of religious women.^[2][7]
• 6th century AD – Venantius Fortunatus has it.^[7]
• c. 1010 – An English law forbids any Christian to violate a nonna.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, Ecclesiastical Latin) A nun.^[8][5][2][9]
2. (Late Latin) A woman who looks after a child, a nurse.^[2][3]
3. (Medieval Latin) The blue titmouse.^[9]

Related words

• English nun

Usage notes

Niermeyer also records the spelling nunna and forms with a stem nonnan-.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press