nimium

Latin

Etymology

Adverbial accusative of nimius (“too great, excessive”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈni.mi.um/, [ˈnɪmiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈni.mi.um/, [ˈniːmium]

Adverb

nimium (not comparable)

1. too, too much
2. excessively, exceedingly, overly
   • 43 BCE – c. 17 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.288-289:

     rēx pavet et volgī pectora terror habet,
     cui dea ‘nē nimium terrēre!’

     Terror grips the people’s hearts, and the king is alarmed,
     to whom the goddess [says], ‘‘Don't be overly dismayed.’’
     (The goddess might sound more formal when advising the king; or, she could say: ‘‘Don't be too afraid.’’)

Synonyms

• (too much): nimiē, nimis

References

• “nimium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nimium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nimium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to go deeply into a matter, discuss it fully: multum, nimium esse (in aliqua re) (De Or. 2. 4. 17)
    
  • to be pedantic: nimium diligentem esse