Etymologically
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nubo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈnuː.boː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnuː.bo][1]

Forms

nūbō (present infinitive nūbere, perfect active nūpsī, supine nū̆ptum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Italic *(s)nūbe/o-, of uncertain origin.[2] The long ō of cōnūbium “marriage” is taken to prove an initial *sn-.[2] It has been compared with Old Church Slavonic съноубити (snubiti, “to court, love”), but Ernout and Meillet object that the Slavic verb is said of a man seeking a bride, not of a woman marrying.[2][1] They and the OLD prefer to connect it with nūbēs “cloud” and obnūbō “to veil”, so that it would mean “to take the veil”, which is attractive but not provable.[2][3] A connection with Greek νύμφη “bride” must be dismissed, according to de Vaan.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.[2] In Plautus a father tells his daughter that with such a dowry she could marry even a beggar.[3] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was said of a woman getting married, with the dative of the husband: nūbere alicui.[3] It was used more rarely of couples and of men.[3] Poets used it of vines “wedded” to a tree.[3] Donatus and Arnobius give it the sense “to veil”.[5]

Its participle nūpta was a bride or wife, and nūptiae a wedding.[1] nūptiālis gave English nuptial in the late 15th century, nūbilis gave English nubile in the 1640s, and cōnūbiālis gave English connubial in the 1650s.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus says a girl could marry even a beggar.[3][4]
  • late 15th century – English nuptial is recorded.[6]
  • 1640s – English nubile is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (of a woman) To marry, get married (to).[3]
  2. (of a couple) To marry each other.[3]
  3. (of a man) To be married.[3]
  4. (of vines) To be wedded (to a tree).[3]
  5. (Late Latin) To veil.[5]

Word family

  • binūbus
  • cōnū̆bium
  • dēnūbō
  • ēnūbō
  • innūbō
  • innū̆ptus
  • nūbilis
  • nū̆pta
  • nū̆ptiae
  • nupto
  • nū̆pturiō
  • nū̆ptus
  • nūbēs
  • English nuptial
  • English nubile

References

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