nefas Latin · revision 18063

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=170–c. 90 BC, Accius|origins=ine-pro *bʰeh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈnɛ.faːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnɛː.fas]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nefās''' ''n'' (indeclinable)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|ne-|t=not]] and [[m|la|fās|t=divine law, what is right]], probably from a phrase ⟨*ne fās est⟩ “it is not right”.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan derives [[m|la|fās]] from [[itc-pro|*faos]] and [[ine-pro|*bʰeh₂-os|t=saying, utterance]]; it first lived only in ⟨fās est⟩, “the saying exists”, hence “it is right”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler first records it in Accius,^(Köbler 2010) and de Vaan in Varro.^(de Vaan 2008) Cicero reports a matter referred to the pontiffs, who decreed it ''nefās'', “contrary to divine law”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Nefās'' is “an offence against divine law, an impious act, sacrilege”, usually in the predicate (''nefās est'', “it is sinful”), and in calendars it marks days when no public business could be done.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) It is then any offence against moral law, “a crime, wicked act” (Cicero: a man to whom nothing was ever forbidden), and ''fās atque nefās'' is “right and wrong” (Virgil: ''fās versum atque nefās'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In poetry it is a portent, a horror, and in parenthesis “oh horror!” (Catullus: ''Trōia (nefās!) commūne sepulcrum Asiae Eurōpaeque''), and also a wicked person or a plague (Virgil: Aeneas will be praised for having destroyed ''nefās'', Helen).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “wrong, crime, sin, wickedness”.^(Stelten 1995) Lewis & Short compare ''scelus'', ''flāgitium'' and ''peccātum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the pontiffs' decree.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus: ''Trōia (nefās!)''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil: ''fās versum atque nefās''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An offence against divine law, [[m|en|sacrilege]], ''(nefās est)'' it is sinful.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A [[m|en|crime]], wicked act, ''(fās atque nefās)'' right and wrong.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A horror, [[m|en|portent]], ''(parenthetical)'' oh horror!^(OLD 2012)

+ # A wicked person; a plague.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nefārius]]

+ * [[nefāstus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fās]]

+ * [[scelus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}