niciun

Forms

niciun m or n (singular only, feminine nicio)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian nici (“not even, nor”) + un (“one, a”).^[2][1][3] Ciorănescu points out that the sister branches have the same compound, Aromanian nițiun (also Megleno-Romanian) and Istro-Romanian niciur, which with Old French neisune, Italian nessuno and Spanish ningún point back to a group Latin neque (“and not”) + ūnus (“one”), as Diez, Densusianu, Pușcariu and the REW held.^[3][4] Wiktionary too gives a Latin nec ūnus (“not even one”) as the probable model.^[1] nici itself continues the first Latin word.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The form indexes of the old texts first show it as the feminine nicio in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of 1678.^[6] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 has niciun three times, for instance in Job 21:25.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Tiktin treats nici un “no” and the pronoun nici unul “none” under nici.^[8] The determiner stands before its noun and says that the being or thing it names does not exist.^[2]

Timeline

• 1678 – nicio in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[6]
• 1688 – niciun in the Bucharest Bible.^[7]

Meanings

Determiner

1. no, not any: shows that the person or thing named does not exist; feminine nicio: Nu am niciun motiv să plec.^[2][1]

Related words

• nici
• un
• vreun

Usage notes

Wiktionary also lists the spelling in two words, nici un.^[1] The pronoun is niciunul, feminine niciuna “none, not one”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 716
3. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. nici
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5896
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5868
6. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. nicio
7. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Job 21:25
8. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. nici