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nugor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnuː.ɡɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnuː.ɡor][1]

Forms

nūgor (present infinitive nūgārī, perfect active nūgātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nūgae (“trifles, jokes”) + -or.[2][1] For nūgae de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *knūg- and finds no Indo-European etymology; since words for trifles are often made from words for nuts or seeds, he thinks a link with nux (“nut”) quite likely, though the different vowel and consonant suggest a loanword.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Plautus,[2][4] as in nugare in re capitali mea, “you trifle in a matter of life and death for me”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to speak or act without seriousness, trifle, play the fool, talk nonsense;[2][5] Cicero says that Democritus non inscite nugatur, ut physicus, “talks nonsense not unskilfully, for a natural philosopher”, and Horace uses it of trifling with someone at leisure and of Greece taking to frivolity once its wars were over.[2][5] Pliny the Elder uses it of authors who gave their books punning titles.[2] In Plautus it also means, with a dative, to tell tall stories, impose on someone, trick or cajole.[2][5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of trifling and of tricking someone.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of Democritus.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of Greece after its wars.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To trifle, jest, play the fool, talk nonsense.[2][5][1]
  2. (with a dative) To tell tall stories to, impose on, cajole.[2][5][1]

Word family

  • nūgāmentum
  • nūgātor
  • nugatrix
  • nūgāx
  • nūgō

Usage notes

Lewis and Short compare Ancient Greek φλυαρέω (phluaréō) and give lūdō as a synonym.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press