nequam
Latin edit
Etymology edit
According to De Vaan, from nē- (“not”) + quam (“what, whom”, f. acc. sing. quī). It may derive more directly from the adverb quam (“how”), from the same source. Traditionally derived from, and perhaps historically influenced by nē- (“not”) + aequam (“equal”, f. acc. sing. aequus). Cognate with Russian ничто́жный (ničtóžnyj, “trifling, insignificant, contemptible, worthless, paltry, despicable, mean”), Russian никчёмный (nikčómnyj, “worthless, useless, good for nothing”), Russian никуды́шный (nikudýšnyj, “bad, useless, in no respect good”), all ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“not”) + Proto-Indo-European *kʷ-, with close meanings.
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈneː.kʷam/, [ˈneːkʷä̃ˑ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈne.kwam/, [ˈnɛːkwäm]
Adjective edit
nēquam (indeclinable, comparative nēquior, superlative nēquissimus)
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- Gallo-Italic:
- Gallo-Romance:
- Occitano-Romance:
References edit
- “nequam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “nequam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- nequam in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- a good, useful slave: frugi (opp. nequam) servus
- a good, useful slave: frugi (opp. nequam) servus