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noxius

Etymology and origin of the Latin word noxius

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*neḱ-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈnɔk.si.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnɔk.si.us][1]

Forms

noxius (feminine noxia, neuter noxium); first/second-declension adjective[1] Seneca has a superlative noxissimus or noxiissimus.[2]

Etymology

It is from noxa “harm, offence” with the suffix -ius; ⟨noxa⟩ is from noceō “to harm”.[3][1][4] De Vaan traces ⟨noceō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *noḱ-éye- (“to make disappear, cause death”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of the guilty.[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant guilty, delinquent, as in Plautus, and harmful, injurious, noxious, as in Celsus, Cicero and Pliny the Elder, and Virgil has crīmina noxia “guilty charges”.[3][7]

British Medieval Latin used it for physically harmful, also in medicine.[8] English noxious (about 1500) is from it.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[3][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the harmful.[7][6]
  • c. 1500 – English noxious is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Guilty.[3]
  2. Harmful, noxious.[3]

Word family

  • innoxius
  • pernoxius
  • noxia
  • noxietās
  • noceō
  • noxa
  • noxālis
  • noxiālis
  • noxiōsus
  • noxitūdō
  • obnoxius
  • English noxious

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Noxius.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/noxius. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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