nepos Latin · revision 737

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈnɛ.poːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnɛː.pos]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nepōs''' ''m'' or f (genitive nepōtis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*nepōt-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₂nep-ōt-|t=descendant other than a son, grandson]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) The feminine counterpart is [[neptis]].^(de Vaan 2008) The only evidence for the initial laryngeal is the Greek form below.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Cognate with [[sga|nia|t=sister's son]], [[sa|नपात्|tr=nápāt|t=descendant, grandson]], [[sq|nip|t=grandson, nephew]], [[olt|nepuotis|t=grandson]], [[ang|nefa|t=grandson, nephew]] and [[grc|ἀνεψιός|tr=anepsiós|t=cousin]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008) who has a soldier boast that women love him because he is a grandson of Venus.^(OLD 2012) Ennius uses it as a feminine for Ilia, the [[m|en|granddaughter]] of Aeneas.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its basic meaning was a grandson, and early on also a granddaughter.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In poetry it meant a descendant in general, with ''seri nepotes'' for remote posterity.^(OLD 2012) In viticulture it was a side shoot of a vine.^(OLD 2012) A figurative sense “spendthrift, playboy”, from the idea of a grandson squandering his inheritance, appears in Cicero and Horace.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ From the Augustan period it also meant a [[m|en|nephew]], and the sense “cousin” appears only after AD 150.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Medieval texts use it for a nephew, a first cousin and, as a feminine, a niece.^(Niermeyer 1976) The modern term [[en|nepotism]] comes through Italian from its use for the “nephews” of popes.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a grandson.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it for a granddaughter.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero calls a man a wasteful ''nepos''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella uses it for a side shoot of the vine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it for sisters' grandsons and nephews.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It means a nephew or a cousin.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|grandson]]; a [[m|en|granddaughter]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A descendant, ''seri nepotes'': remote posterity.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(viticulture)'' A side shoot of a vine.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A spendthrift, [[m|en|prodigal]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(post-Augustan)'' A [[m|en|nephew]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A first cousin; a niece.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[adnepōs]]

+ * [[nepōtālis]]

+ * [[nepōtātus]]

+ * [[nepōtor]]

+ * [[nepōtula]]

+ * [[nepōtulus]]

+ * [[prō̆nepōs]]

+ * [[trinepōs]]

+ * [[abnepōs]]

+ * [[neptis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|nephew]]

+ * [[en|nepotism]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}