nuditas

Forms

nūditās f (genitive nūditātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin nūdus + -tās, from the adjective “naked”.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Late Latin word,^[2][1] first found in Tertullian, who writes of the bareness of the head (nuditas capitis).^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Lactantius uses it of shame at being naked (pudere eum nuditatis suae coepit, “he began to be ashamed of his nakedness”),^[2] and it is frequent in Augustine, Sulpicius Severus and the Vulgate, where hunger, thirst and nakedness are named together (in fame et siti et nuditate).^[2][4] Figuratively it meant want or lack,^[5][3] and in the Theodosian Code a plainness or lack of ornament.^[6]

Medieval Latin kept both nakedness and privation or hardship,^[7][8] and Neo-Latin authors such as Valla, Erasmus, Thomas More and Melanchthon still use it.^[9] English nudity (1610s) may come from it directly or through French nudité.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian speaks of the bareness of the head.^[4][3]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of shame at being naked.^[2][3]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate names nakedness beside hunger and thirst.^[2][3]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses it figuratively.^[6][5][3]
• 1610s – English nudity appears, perhaps directly from the Latin.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Nakedness, bareness, nudity.^[2][4][11]
2. (figurative) Want, lack; privation, hardship.^[5][7][3]
3. (figurative) Plainness, lack of ornament.^[6]

Related words

• English nudity

Usage notes

The glossaries render it with Ancient Greek γυμνότης (gumnótēs).^[2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c 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.
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
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
9. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson