Latin

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Etymology

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From Proto-Italic *nowos, from Proto-Indo-European *néwos. Cognates include Old English nīewe (English new), Ancient Greek νέος (néos), Proto-Slavic *novъ, and Sanskrit नव (náva).

Proto-Italic *nowos fails to become Latin *nuus due to specific conditions in the development of Latin, namely -o-(w)- being in the first syllable, whereas *dē nowōd (anew) became dēnuō.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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novus (feminine nova, neuter novum, comparative novior, superlative novissimus, adverb novē or noviter); first/second-declension adjective

  1. new, novel
    Synonym: recēns
    Antonyms: prīscus, prīstinus, antīquus, vetus, senex
    • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Ecclesiastes.1.10:
      nihil sub sole novum
      there is nothing new under the sun
  2. fresh, young
  3. recent
  4. unusual, strange, extraordinary
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.10-11:
      “Quis novus hic nostrīs successit sēdibus hospes?
      Quem sēsē ōre ferēns, quam fortī pectore et armīs!”
      “What [is it about] this unusual guest who has entered our home? How he bears [his noble] face, how brave in heart and in battle!”
      (Dido finds the appearance and character of Aeneas attractive; to her, he is not just another new or unknown visitor to Carthage.)

Declension

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First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative novus nova novum novī novae nova
Genitive novī novae novī novōrum novārum novōrum
Dative novō novō novīs
Accusative novum novam novum novōs novās nova
Ablative novō novā novō novīs
Vocative nove nova novum novī novae nova

Derived terms

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Descendants

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References

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  • novus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • novus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • novus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to enter on a new method: novam rationem ingredi
    • a parvenu (a man no member of whose family has held curule office): homo novus
    • a demagogue, agitator: plebis dux, vulgi turbator, civis turbulentus, civis rerum novarum cupidus
    • revolutionists: homines seditiosi, turbulenti or novarum rerum cupidi
    • to hold revolutionary opinions: novarum rerum cupidum esse
    • (ambiguous) to introduce a new word into the Latin language: inducere novum verbum in latinam linguam
    • (ambiguous) to hold revolutionary opinions: novis rebus studere
  1. ^ AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 1579: “nuovo; nuova; nuovi; nuove” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it