nutus Latin · revision 31279

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=first half of the 2nd century BC, Trabea|origins=ine-pro *neu-e/o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈnuː.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈnuː.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nūtus''' ''m'' (genitive nūtūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from the verb ⟨*nuō⟩ “to nod”, found in [[m|la|abnuō|t=to refuse]] and [[m|la|nūtō|t=to nod]], with the suffix [[m|la|-tus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan derives ⟨-nuō⟩ from [[itc-pro|*nowe/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*neu-e/o-|t=to nod]], cognate with [[grc|νεύω|tr=neúō|t=to nod, beckon]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler gives the comic poet Trabea as its first author,^(Köbler 2010) who has “he will watch my nod for what I want”;^(OLD 2012) de Vaan dates it from Lucretius.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a nod of the head used instead of speech, especially of assent, as in Cicero's ''Verrines'' and Livy's Scipio, who could have ended the dispute with a nod.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is a nod of command, the least sign of someone's wishes, and the symbol of absolute power, as Virgil's Jupiter who “shook Olympus with his nod” and Cicero's desires tamed by the authority and nod of the laws.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ It is also any lowering of the head, as in dodging a blow in Statius or in sleep in Lucretius, and in physics the movement towards the centre, gravitation, as Cicero's earth held in the middle by its own force and downward pull.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Church Latin glosses it “nod, command, beck, will, wish”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * first half of the 2nd century BC – Trabea of watching a nod.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a head nodding in sleep.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of assent, of the laws and of gravitation.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of Jupiter's nod.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|nod]]; a nod of assent.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A command, will, pleasure; absolute power.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A lowering of the head.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A downward tendency, [[m|en|gravitation]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[adnuō]]

+ * [[abnuō]]

+ * [[innuō]]

+ * [[nūtō]]

+ * [[nūmen]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}