nebulo Latin · revision 34642

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=190–159 BC, Terence|origins=ine-pro *nebʰ-e-lo-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈnɛ.bʊ.ɫoː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈnɛː.bu.lo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nebulō''' ''m'' (genitive nebulōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|nebula|-ō|t1=mist, cloud]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The TLL explains the suffix ⟨-ō, -ōnis⟩ as naming first a person who has a thing (as in [[nāsō]]), and then any person marked by some relation to it.^(TLL)

+

+ [[m|la|nebula]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*nefelā-]] and [[ine-pro|*nebʰ-e-lo-|t=small cloud]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[grc|νεφέλη|tr=nephélē|t=cloud]], [[non|nifl|t=darkness, haze]] and [[goh|nebul]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler record it first in Terence,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in the ''Eunuchus'', meaning a worthless fellow, a scoundrel.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a term of abuse: Lucilius pairs it with ''nūgātor'', “trifler”, and calls a rogue ''nebulo lucifugus'', one who shuns the light,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Cicero complains of being mocked by “that rascal”.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Horace sets ''nebulones'' beside ''Alcinoique iuventus'', “the young men of Alcinous”, and pairs it with ''vappa'', “good-for-nothing”.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Gellius combines it with ''homo''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) According to the scholiast Acro it could also mean a man of low birth, and slaves were called ''nebulones''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In medieval British Latin it keeps the meaning “scoundrel” and also means a trickster or conjuror (in Aldhelm) and a fool or jester; in 1335 it is recorded for a wafer.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a worthless fellow.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius pairs it with ''nūgātor''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the ''Pro Roscio Amerino''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace writes of ''nebulones Alcinoique iuventus''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it in apposition with ''homo''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1335 – A British account uses it for wafers.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A worthless fellow, a [[m|en|scoundrel]], a [[m|en|rascal]], a trifler.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A man of low birth; a [[m|en|slave]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|trickster]] or [[m|en|conjuror]].^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|fool]], a [[m|en|jester]].^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|wafer]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nebula]]

+ * [[nebulōsus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Osbern of Gloucester explained the word as “one who is vain like a mist”.^(DMLBS) A rare verb ''nebulō, -āre'', “to cloud, darken”, formed from [[nebula]], is found in Tertullian (as a variant reading) and Victor of Vita.^(TLL)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}