nugatorius

Forms

nūgātōrius (feminine nūgātōria, neuter nūgātōrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Old Latin has ⟨naugātōrius⟩.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin nūgātor (“trifler, jester”) + -ius,^[1][4][2] while the OLD analyses it as nūgor (“to trifle”) with the suffix ⟨-tōrius⟩.^[5] Both go back to nūgae (“trifles, nonsense”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *knūg-.^[6] He finds no Indo-European etymology; since words for trifles are sometimes made from words for nuts, a link with nux (“nut”) is quite likely, and the differences of vowel length and consonant suggest a foreign loanword.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^[6][3] whose Trinummus has a man hired for three coins ad artis nugatorias, for tricks of storytelling.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is futile or absurd, of statements and arguments:^[5][4] the Rhetorica ad Herennium calls one kind of argument futile, Cicero speaks of a bad and futile accusation, and a letter of Brutus and Cassius calls a point light and futile.^[5] Varro uses it of a worthless ointment and of worthless Ligurian oxen.^[5][4] Of persons it meant frivolous, not serious: Seneca reports that people call a man trifling and idle, and Ulpian speaks of a slave who wanders off and wastes his time on trifles.^[5] It could also mean paltry, as when Seneca calls human bodies trifling and feeble.^[5] The adverb nugatorie appears in the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[4]

Augustine uses it of opinions and songs and of a trifling kind of gods.^[2][4] In British medieval Latin it meant trifling or superfluous, talking nonsense, untrue, and in logic meaningless.^[8] English took it as nugatory about 1600.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of storytelling tricks.^[5][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of worthless oxen.^[5][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a futile accusation.^[5][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a frivolous man.^[5][3]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of a trifling kind of gods.^[4][3]
• c. 1155 – Peter of Blois uses it of youth spent on trifles.^[8]
• c. 1600 – English borrows it as nugatory.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of arguments and statements: futile, absurd.^[5][4]
2. Romancing, given to storytelling.^[5]
3. Worthless, good for nothing.^[5][4]
4. Not serious, frivolous; as a noun, a worthless fellow.^[5][4]
5. Paltry, insignificant.^[5]
6. (Medieval Latin) Untrue; in logic, meaningless.^[8]

Related words

• nūgācitās
• nūgae
• nūgālis
• nūgāmenta
• nūgātor
• nūgātrix
• nūgax
• English nugatory

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com