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nudo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word nudo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
204–169 BC, Ennius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*nogʷ-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnuː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnuː.do][1]

Forms

nūdō (present infinitive nūdāre, perfect active nūdāvī, supine nūdātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from nūdus (“naked”) with the verb ending -ō.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨nūdus⟩ to Proto-Italic *nowoþo- (“naked”), a form with a suffix shared with Germanic on the root adjective Proto-Indo-European *nogʷ- (“naked”); it is cognate with Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌵𐌰𐌸𐍃 (naqaþs), Sanskrit नग्न (nagná-), Ancient Greek γυμνός (gumnós) and Old Irish nocht, all “naked”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Ennius as its first author;[3] a line of his, quoted by Cicero, calls stripping the body among citizens the beginning of vice.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is to strip a person or part of the body, to bare a sword (Livy), to strip the land of its cover, as trees bared by winter in Cicero, to make bald, and to thresh grain.[2] It is to uncover or expose to view, as Lucretius' bared teeth, and in war to leave a camp, a flank or a position unprotected (Caesar).[2][4] A plunderer strips a place bare, as Verres his province, and figuratively it is to deprive someone of something.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “uncover”.[5]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of stripping the body.[2][3][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of bared teeth.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of trees stripped by winter and a plundered province.[2][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of a camp left unguarded.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make naked, strip, bare; to unsheathe (a sword).[2][1][4]
  2. To strip (land, trees) of covering, denude; to make bald.[2]
  3. To uncover, lay bare, expose.[2][1][5]
  4. To leave unprotected, expose to attack.[2][1]
  5. To plunder, strip bare; to deprive.[2][1]

Word family

  • dēnūdō
  • enudo
  • nūdātiō
  • renūdō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Nudo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/nudo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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