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Etymology and origin of the Latin word novies

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin (novem)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin novem
French neuf
Latin novies
Latin nongenti

Forms

noviēs (not comparable)[1] It is also spelled noviēns,[2][3] and Wiktionary also lists nōniēs and nōniēns.[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin novem (“nine”) + -iēs.[1][2][3] The numeral goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ through Proto-Italic *nown̥.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and Lewis & Short record it first in Varro,[4][2] whose treatise on farming has ter novies, “three times nine times”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means nine times.[2][3][5] Virgil writes of the Styx that flows round nine times (noviens Styx interfusa), and Seneca has novem novies, “nine times nine”;[2][5] Ovid also uses it, and Ausonius has novies deni, “nine times ten”.[3]

It stayed in use in medieval Latin: Bede uses it in reckoning the tides, Domesday Book in a measure of meadow land, and William of Malmesbury of a king who fought nine times in one year.[6] The early medieval law codes have it too,[4] and it is in Ecclesiastical Latin.[7]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro writes ter novies.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil has noviens Styx interfusa.[2][5][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca writes novem novies.[2][4]
  • c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius has novies deni.[3][4]
  • Middle Ages – Bede, Domesday Book and William of Malmesbury use it.[6]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Nine times.[2][3][7][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b 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
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Novies.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/novies. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·