nefandus Latin · revision 31218

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *bʰeh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [nɛˈfan.dʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [neˈfan.dus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nefandus''' (feminine nefanda, neuter nefandum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from the negative [[m|la|ne-|t=not]] and [[m|la|fandus|t=to be spoken]], the gerundive of [[m|la|for|t=to speak]], so “not to be spoken of”; compare [[m|la|īnfandus|t=unspeakable]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) The TLL notes that it was also felt as a derivative of [[m|la|nefās|t=sacrilege]].^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan derives ⟨for⟩ from [[itc-pro|*fā-|t=to speak]] and [[ine-pro|*bʰeh₂-|t=to speak]], cognate with [[grc|φημί|tr=phēmí|t=I say]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler gives Cicero as its first author,^(Köbler 2010) who addresses Clodius as ''ō nefanda et perniciōsa lābēs cīvitātis'', “you wicked and ruinous plague of the state”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is wicked, impious or heinous, of persons, as Virgil's “it is enough to have escaped the accursed race”, of crimes, as Cicero's “so monstrous and unspeakable a crime” against the state, and of weapons and other instruments, as Virgil's “you altars and accursed swords that I fled”.^(OLD 2012) Of things tainted by crime it is abominable, as Livy's “to defile themselves with accursed plunder”.^(OLD 2012) Virgil's ''fandī atque nefandī'' means “right and wrong”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Lewis and Short call it mostly post-Augustan.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church Latin glosses it “unspeakable, heinous, impious”.^(Stelten 1995) English [[m|en|nefandous]] was borrowed from it in the 1630s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of Clodius and of the Catilinarian crime.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of an accursed race and of right and wrong.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of accursed plunder.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1630s – English [[m|en|nefandous]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|wicked|alt=Wicked]], [[m|en|impious]], [[m|en|heinous]] (of persons, acts, weapons).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Abominable;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''(neuter as noun)'' ''fandī atque nefandī'', right and wrong.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Unspeakable.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[īnfandus]]

+ * [[nefās]]

+ * [[for]]

+ * [[nefārius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}