nothus Latin · revision 34765

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=grc νόθος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈnɔ.tʰʊs]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nothus''' (feminine notha, neuter nothum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|νόθος|tr=nóthos|t=born out of wedlock to a known father]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Beekes calls the Greek word unexplained, possibly Pre-Greek.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first authors are Lucretius and Catullus, both in the transferred sense “not genuine”: they speak of the moon's borrowed light (''notho lumine''), and Catullus calls Attis “a counterfeit woman” (''notha mulier'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of persons it meant born out of wedlock, a bastard, but with a known father, unlike [[spurius]], whose father was unknown.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Quintilian notes that the Greeks call a child who is not legitimate ''nothus'' and that Latin has no word for it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Virgil uses it of Antiphates, the bastard son of Sarpedon by a Theban mother, and of cross-bred horses;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Columella and Pliny the Elder also use it of animals of mixed breed.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Varro calls words of foreign origin made in Latin “bastard” words, and Arnobius speaks of spurious expressions.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ British medieval writers use it of illegitimate children, from Bede on, and as a byname of William, duke of Normandy and later king of England; grammarians use it of hybrid Graeco-Latin words.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the moon's borrowed light.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus calls Attis ''notha mulier''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of hybrid words.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a bastard son and of cross-bred horses.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian notes that Latin has no native word for it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 8th century – Bede uses it of an illegitimate brother of a king.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Born out of wedlock, [[m|en|illegitimate]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) (as a noun) a [[m|en|bastard]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # (of animals) [[m|en|crossbreed|alt=Cross-bred]], mongrel.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Hybrid, partly foreign.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(DMLBS)

+ # Not genuine, [[m|en|spurious]], [[m|en|counterfeit]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) (of the moon's light) borrowed.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spurius]]

+ * [[legitimus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Roman usage distinguished ''nothus'', a child of a known father outside marriage, from [[spurius]], a child of an unknown father, and both from [[legitimus]], one born in wedlock.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}