nervosus Latin · revision 7437
16 Oct 2026, 13:52 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Lucretius|origins=la nervus}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [nɛrˈwoː.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [nerˈvɔː.s̬us]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''nervōsus''' (feminine nervōsa, neuter nervōsum, comparative nervōsior); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[nervus]] “sinew, tendon” with the suffix [[-ōsus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) Medieval manuscripts sometimes spell it ⟨nervios-⟩.^(TLL)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Gaffiot and Lewis and Short cite Lucretius' ''nervōsa et lignea'' “sinewy and wooden”, of a scraggy woman.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler's first source is Catullus; he dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant full of sinews or tendons, sinewy, tough, as Ovid's sinewy knee, of plants fibrous, as in Pliny, and of persons stringy, scraggy, as in Lucretius.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of persons and their activity it meant vigorous, energetic, and of style forceful, as in Cicero.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ British Medieval Latin used it in anatomy of what is composed of nerves.^(DMLBS) [[en|nervous]] came in the late 14th century, first “containing nerves, affecting the sinews”, and later “vigorous”.^(Etymonline) It survives in Italian ''nervoso'' and French ''nerveux''.^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a scraggy woman.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of forceful style.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a sinewy knee.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * late 14th century – English ''nervous'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Sinewy, muscular; fibrous; stringy.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Vigorous, energetic; of style, forceful.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin, anatomy)'' Of nerves.^(DMLBS)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[nervōsē]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[nervus]]
+ * [[en|nervous]]
+ * [[en|nerve]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}