natis Latin · revision 35712

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈna.tɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈnaː.tis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''natis''' ''f'' (genitive natis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is mostly used in the plural, ''natēs, natium''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ A genitive plural ''naterum'' in Lucilius is a doubtful reading.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) De Vaan's reconstruction is [[inh|itc-pro|*nati-]] (perhaps with an initial /g/ or /s/), possibly from [[ine-pro|*nHt-]].^(de Vaan 2008) The word is usually compared with [[grc|νῶτον|tr=nôton|t=back]];^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) de Vaan finds the link possible in meaning but formally uncertain, since both words stand isolated.^(de Vaan 2008) Schrijver's explanation is a root noun [[m|ine-pro|*n(e)h₃t-]], which Latin would have turned into an i-stem and Greek into an o-stem; a root with /h₂/ instead is also possible.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary gives an apparent [[m|ine-pro|*not-|t=rear, buttock]] and also notes that the sounds do not match well.^(Wiktionary) The TLL doubts that any suitable Indo-European root exists.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan records it from Plautus on;^(de Vaan 2008) Lewis and Short's first plural example is from Plautus' ''Persa'', ''nates pervellit'' “plucks at the buttocks”.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler and Conte cite a fragment of Ennius.^(Köbler 2010)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It always meant the buttocks, usually in the plural.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The singular appears in the comic poet Pomponius, in Horace and in the ''Priapea'';^(Georges 1913) Juvenal has ''soleā pulsare natēs'', “to beat the buttocks with a slipper”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Martial uses it of the rump of animals, the turtle-doves' ''natēs''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In British medieval Latin it kept the same sense, of people and of animals, and glossaries translate it as “a bottoke”.^(DMLBS) It survives in [[it|natica]].^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the plural ''natēs''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius has it in a fragment.^(Köbler 2010)^(Conte 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses the singular.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of animals' rumps.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal speaks of beating the buttocks with a slipper.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|buttock]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) ''(usually plural)'' the buttocks, the [[m|en|rump]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # The rump of an animal.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[internatium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}