nuntius

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nūntius (“messenger”).

Noun

nuntius (plural nuntii)

1. (chiefly theater) A messenger.

   Synonym: nuncius

2. (Roman Catholicism) A nuncio.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nuntius.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnʏn.tsi.ʏs/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: nun‧ti‧us

Noun

nuntius m (plural nuntii or nuntiussen)

1. (Roman Catholicism) A nuncio (diplomatic representative of the Holy See).

Usage notes

The most common plural is nuntii, which is favoured by Catholic sources. The plural nuntiussen is mostly used by the secular press and to a lesser degree by the Protestant press.

Derived terms

• nuntiatuur

Latin

Alternative forms

• nontius, nountius, nūncius

Etymology

Uncertain; competing hypotheses include:

• Contracted from noventius, from an obsolete noveō, from novus.
• From Proto-Indo-European *new- (“to nod”), same source as Latin *nuō, Ancient Greek νεύω (neúō, “to beckon, nod”) and Old Irish noid (“make known”), though this is rejected by De Vaan.
• From Etruscan [script needed] (nunth, “to bring”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈnuːn.ti.us/, [ˈnuːn̪t̪iʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈnun.t͡si.us/, [ˈnunt̪͡s̪ius]

Noun

nūntius m (genitive nūntiī or nūntī, feminine nūntia); second declension

1. a messenger, reporter, courier

   Synonyms: internūntia, praecō

2. an envoy, message, report
3. a command, order, injunction

   Synonyms: dēcrētum, praeceptum, iussus, ēdictum, ēdictiō, scītum, dēcrētiō, mandātum, imperium

4. (in the plural) news, tidings, information

   Synonyms: fāma, indicium

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	nūntius	nūntiī
Genitive	nūntiī nūntī1	nūntiōrum
Dative	nūntiō	nūntiīs
Accusative	nūntium	nūntiōs
Ablative	nūntiō	nūntiīs
Vocative	nūntie	nūntiī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Related terms

• nūntiō

Descendants

• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *nuntiolus (diminutive)
  • Venetian: nonzolo (“sacristan”)
• Borrowings:
  • → Catalan: nunci
  • → English: nuncio
  • → Galician: nuncio
  • → Italian: nunzio
    • → French: nonce
  • → Portuguese: núncio
  • → Romanian: nunțiu
  • → Russian: нунций (nuncij)
  • → Serbo-Croatian: nùncīj, ну̀нцӣј
  • Sicilian: nunziu, Nunziu
  • → Spanish: nuncio

References

• “nuntius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nuntius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nuntius in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• nuntius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to separate, be divorced (used of man or woman): nuntium remittere alicui (De Or. 1. 40)
    
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “nŭntius”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 7: N–Pas, page 242

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin nuntius (“envoy”).

Noun

nuntius m (definite singular nuntien or nuntiusen, indefinite plural nuntier, definite plural nuntiene)

1. (Roman Catholicism) a nuncio

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin nuntius (“envoy”).

Noun

nuntius m (definite singular nuntiusen, indefinite plural nuntiusar, definite plural nuntiusane)

1. (Roman Catholicism) a nuncio