nemesis English · revision 64

+ ==Etymology==

+ First recorded in the 1570s as the name of the Greek goddess of retribution,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) or 1561 according to Merriam-Webster.^(MW Collegiate) It is [[bor|grc|νέμεσις|tr=némesis|t=righteous indignation; retribution]],^(OED 1989)^(AHD) literally “distribution” (of what is due),^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''némein'' “to distribute, give what is due”,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) [[der|ine-pro|*nem-|t=to assign, allot]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

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+ With a lower-case ''n'', in the sense “retributive justice”, it is attested from the 1590s;^(Etymonline) the general sense “anything by which one seems bound to be defeated” dates from about 1930.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}