nurus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈnʊ.rʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnuː.rus]^[1]

Forms

nurus f (genitive nurūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *snuso-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *snusós (“daughter-in-law”).^[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit स्नुषा (snuṣā́), Ancient Greek νυός (nuós), Old Armenian նու (now), Russian сноха (snoxá) and Old English snoru.^[2][3] It moved from the second to the fourth declension under the influence of socrus “mother-in-law”.^[2][1] The PIE word may come from the root *sneu- “to drip, nurse”, from which nūtrīx is often derived.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is a royal law; de Vaan dates it in literature from Terence.^[3][2] Köbler's first source is Caecilius, 230/220–168 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a daughter-in-law, as Terence's saying that all mothers-in-law hate their daughters-in-law, and in poetry, usually plural, a young married woman.^[3] The Digest uses it of the betrothed of a son.^[5] The Appendix Probi corrects nura to nurus, and an African inscription has nura.^[6][7]

In Medieval Latin it also meant a sister-in-law.^[8]

Timeline

• Regal period – A royal law mentions a daughter-in-law.^[3]
• 190–159 BC – Terence says mothers-in-law hate their daughters-in-law.^[3][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of young wives.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A daughter-in-law.^[3]
2. (poetic) A young married woman.^[3]
3. (Medieval Latin) A sister-in-law.^[8]

Word family

• nuricula
• prōnurus

Related words

• nūtrīx
• socrus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Appendix Probi, a late antique list of correct and censured Latin word forms ("calida non calda"); ed. H. Keil, Grammatici Latini IV, Leipzig 1864, 197–199.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill