nefastus Latin · revision 34562

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *bʰeh₂-os}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nefāstus''' (feminine nefāsta, neuter nefāstum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ne-|fāstus#1|t2=lawful, (of days) open for business]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) The TLL notes that one would expect ⟨in-fāstus⟩ and explains the ⟨ne-⟩ by the influence of [[m|la|nefās|t=offence against divine law]], although that noun is not found before Accius;^(TLL) Wiktionary derives the adjective from it directly.^(Wiktionary) De Vaan derives [[m|la|fāstus#1|alt=fāstus]] from [[m|la|fās|t=divine law, what is right]], which he traces through [[itc-pro|*faos]] to [[ine-pro|*bʰeh₂-os|t=saying, utterance]]: the noun survived in the phrase ⟨fās est⟩, “the saying exists”, hence “it is right”.^(de Vaan 2008) Ancient writers derived it from [[m|la|for|alt=fārī|t=to speak]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler record it first in Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in a joke about the calendar: ''istōrum nūllus nefāstust: comitiālēs sunt merī'', “none of these is ''nefastus'': they are pure assembly days”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its core sense is contrary to divine law: a law in Cicero's ''De legibus'' voids whatever an augur declares ''nefāsta'',^(OLD 2012) a text Lewis and Short assign to the Twelve Tables.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Livy uses it of a land forbidden to a victory, and Pliny the Elder of offering the gods wine from a vine struck by lightning.^(OLD 2012) Of days it names those unfit for public business: Varro explains that on them the praetor may not speak the words ''dō, dīcō, addīcō'', and Livy says Numa made days ''nefāstī'' and ''fāstī''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Paul's epitome of Festus says such days were marked with the letter N.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ From this it came to mean unlucky or inauspicious: Horace tells a tree that it was planted on an ill-omened day, and Tacitus and Suetonius report that Agrippina's birthday was put among the ''nefāstī''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Later it means abominable or dreadful, as in Statius' ''Acheronte nefāstō'' and in Apuleius.^(OLD 2012) The neuter ''nefāstum'' is used as a noun for a wicked deed, by Horace and Pliny.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus jokes on it as a calendar term.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro explains the ''diēs nefāstī''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of what an augur declares forbidden.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of an unlucky day.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy says Numa made days ''nefāstī''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of the dreadful Acheron.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Contrary to [[m|en|divine law]], forbidden, [[m|en|impious]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of days, on which courts and assemblies could not be held, unfit for public business.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # [[m|en|inauspicious|alt=Inauspicious]], unlucky.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # [[m|en|abominable|alt=Abominable]], dreadful, wicked.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nefastum]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fās]]

+ * [[nefās]]

+ * [[fāstus#1]]

+ * [[nefārius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}