nexus Latin · revision 8318
16 Oct 2026, 16:02 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Law of the Twelve Tables|origins=la nectō}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈnɛk.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnɛk.sus]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''nexus''' ''m'' (genitive nexūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[nectō]] “to bind” with the suffix [[-tus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler's first source is the Law of the Twelve Tables, about 450 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant binding, plaiting together, as in Seneca, and in Lucretius a bond, a joint.^(OLD 2012) In law, as in Cicero, it was the same as ''nexum'', the old contract of debt bondage, and any legal obligation.^(OLD 2012) In Tibullus it meant an entanglement, in Seneca an embrace, and in Tacitus a combination, nexus.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a connection, joining, fastening.^(Stelten 1995) British Medieval Latin used it for a fastening, a link.^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''nesso'' and Spanish ''nexo'', and gave [[en|nexus]] in the 1660s.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a bond.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a combination.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1660s – English ''nexus'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # Binding; a bond, joint.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(law)'' Debt bondage; an obligation.^(OLD 2012)
+ # An entanglement; an embrace.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A combination, [[m|en|nexus]].^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[nexuōsus]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[nectō]]
+ * [[nexābundē]]
+ * [[nexibilis]]
+ * [[nexilis]]
+ * [[nexilitās]]
+ * [[nexiō]]
+ * [[nexō]]
+ * [[nexum]]
+ * [[en|nexus]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ As a second-declension noun ''nexus'' was a man held in bondage for debt; the participle ''nexus'' means bound, pledged.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}