THE ETYMOLOGY NERD
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Word Archives
  • Infographics
  • Videos
  • MORE
    • Cartoons
    • Retail Reviews
    • Resources
    • Clarifications
    • Accomplishments

NOT DIVINE LAW

3/24/2019

0 Comments

 
The word nefarious was borrowed into the English language at the turn of the seventeenth century directly from the Latin word nefarius, which had a similar meaning of "wicked". That's a modified form of nefas, which could mean "crime" or "impiety". Nefas is composed of ne, meaning "not", and fas, meaning "divine law" (since a crime contradicts divine law). Therefore, something that is nefarious. Ne is an element present in many languages (for example, in Serbian, the word for "no" is ne), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European reconstruction with the same spelling and definition. Fas​ derives from PIE behos, which meant "utterance", and that can be simplified further to beh, or "speak". So, if we go back as far as possible, nefarious means "no speech", and calling someone nefarious​ is tantamount to telling them to shut up.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    AUTHOR

    Picture
    Adam Aleksic, a freshman studying linguistics and government at Harvard University, has been described as the internet's sixth most famous etymologist. He also has disturbing interests in words, vexillology, geography, board games, limericks, and law.
      If I don't cover it soon, I probably already did it
    Submit
    CONFUSED?
      

    Archives

    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

Picture

A lexophile's sanctum

CONTACT: etymologynerd@gmail.com
TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • YOUTUBE • REDDIT • RSS
Home • Blog • Interesting Infographics • Retail Reviews • Cartoons • Clarifications • Word Archives • Resources • Accomplishments
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Word Archives
  • Infographics
  • Videos
  • MORE
    • Cartoons
    • Retail Reviews
    • Resources
    • Clarifications
    • Accomplishments