Etymologically
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nuncupo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnʊŋ.kʊ.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnuŋ.ku.po][1]

Forms

nuncupō (present infinitive nuncupāre, perfect active nuncupāvī, supine nuncupātum); first conjugation[1] The Twelve Tables have the old form nuncupāssis for nuncupāveris.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin nōmen (“name”) + capiō (“to take”).[1][2][3] De Vaan explains it as a verb formed from an unattested noun ⟨*nōmiceps⟩ “taking a name, declaring”, which became ⟨*nōmicupāre⟩ and then, through loss of the vowel, ⟨nuncupāre⟩.[4] He traces nōmen to Proto-Indo-European *h₃neh₃-mn (“name”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the Twelve Tables.[4] Cicero recalls their rule that only the defects declared by word of mouth had to be made good.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to state formally or declare, and to name or specify, as Pliny the Elder of seas.[2] It is also to pronounce a solemn formula or vow: Livy reports the words of a self-sacrifice as they were handed down and pronounced.[2] Of a will it is to ratify a written will by an oral declaration, and to name an heir orally: Ulpian says one may either name or write the heirs, but if one names them it must be done openly.[2] It is also to call by a name: Cicero writes that useful things were named after the gods.[2] Döderlein distinguishes it from nōminō, to call someone by the name he already has: ⟨nuncupāre⟩ is to give a name to something that had none.[5] Lewis & Short call it mostly early and post-Augustan, and frequent in legal language.[3] Church Latin glosses it to call, name.[6]

Timeline

  • Twelve Tables – used in the law of sale.[4][2]
  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius of invoking the loyalty of Aegisthus.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of things named after the gods.[2][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of pronouncing a vow.[2][7]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian of naming heirs orally.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To state formally, declare; to mention by name.[2][1]
  2. To pronounce a vow or solemn formula.[2][3][1]
  3. To announce officially;[2][1] testāmentum nuncupāre, to ratify a will orally.[2][1]
  4. To appoint or nominate, especially an heir.[2][1]
  5. To invoke, address by name.[2]
  6. To call by a name.[2][3][1][6]

Word family

  • nuncupātim
  • nuncupātiō
  • nuncupātīvus
  • nuncupātor
  • praenuncupatus
  • nuncupātīvē

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de