abnuo

Latin

Alternative forms

• abnueō (pre-Classical)
• amnuō (post-classical)

Etymology

From ab- (“from, away from”) +‎ *nuō (“nod”), literally “to reject by a nod”.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈab.nu.oː/, [ˈäbnuoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈab.nu.o/, [ˈäbnuo]

Verb

abnuō (present infinitive abnuere, perfect active abnuī, supine abnuitum); third conjugation

1. (literally, rare, often in conjuction with adnuō) to say no, to nod in negation
   • c. 189 BCE, Plautus, Truculentus prol.4–6:

     Quid nunc? Datūrīn estis an nōn? Annuont.
     […]
     Quid sī dē vostrō quippiam ōrem? Abnuont.

     Well then? Are you going to give it or not? They nod in approval.
     […]
     What if I asked for something of yours? They nod in disapproval.

   • 8 CE – 12 CE, Ovid, Sorrows 5.10.41–42:

     Utque fit, in sē aliquid fingī, dīcentibus illīs
          abnuerim quotiēns adnuerimque, putant.

     Either way, they think I'm inventing something about them, whenever they speak
          and I nod in negation and affirmation.

2. to refuse, reject

   Synonyms: recūsō, negō, renuō

   Antonyms: adnuō, aiō

   • c. 40 BCE, Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum 47:

     […] rēgī pācem quam postulābat neque abnuere neque pollicērī […]

     […] he neither refused nor promised the king the peace he was asking for […]

   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 10.10.8:

     Dē societāte haud abnuunt barbarī: dē mercēde agitur.

     The barbarians refuse not an alliance: it's all about remuneration.

   • 94 CE – 96 CE, Statius, Achilleid 1.917:

     Nec tamen abnuerit generō sē iungere tālī.

     Nor will he refuse to join with such a son in law.

   • c. 56 CE – 117 CE, Tacitus, Annals 13.14:

     Nōn abnuere se, quīn cūncta īnfēlīcīs domūs mala patefīerent, suae in prīmīs nūptiae, suum venēficium.

     She didn't reject that all the evils of the unhappy house be made known, her marriage first of all, and her poisoning.

   • 248 CE – 258 CE, Cyprian, Letters 65.3 in Corpus Vindobonense (volume III, part 2), Franz Pauly, Vienna (1871), page 724, lines 3–4:

     Nec mīrum sī cōnsilia nostra aut Dominī praecepta nunc abnuunt quī Dominum negāvērunt.

     No wonder that those who denied the Lord now reject our decisions or the Lord's teachings.

   1. (poetic or post-classical, chiefly of inanimate subjects) to not admit of
   2. (military, very rare) to decline service
      • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 27.49.3:

        Ille fessōs abnuentēsque taediō et labōre nunc precandō, nunc castigandō accendit.

        It was he who, now by entreaties, now by chastising, stimulated the soldiers, tired and declining service due to weariness and difficulty.

3. to deny
   • c. 99 BCE – 55 BCE, Lucretius, De rerum natura 3.640–641:

     At quod scinditur et partīs discēdit in ūllās,
     scīlicet aeternam sibi nātūram abnuit esse.

     But if something breaks and separates into any parts,
     it surely denies having an eternal nature.

   • c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 10.70.137:

     Quī crēdat ista, et Melampodī profectō augurī aurēs lambendō dedisse intellēctum avium sermōnis dracōnes nōn abnuat.

     Anyone who would believe these would also surely not deny that serpents gave Melampus the augur the understanding of bird language by means of licking his ears.

   • c. 125 CE – 180 CE, Apuleius, Metamorphoses 2.27:

     Ēmeditātīs ad haec illa flētibus quamque sānctissimē poterat adiūrāns cūncta nūmina, tantum scelus abnuēbat.

     With cries devised just for this, swearing by all the gods as solemnly as she could, she denied having committed such a crime.

   • c. 310 CE, Lactantius, Divinarum Institutionum Epitome 31 (36) in Corpus Vindobonense (volume IXX), Samuel Brandt, Vienna (1890), page 706, lines 10–12:

     Epicūrī doctrīna haec est inprīmīs, nullam esse prōvidentiam, et īdem deōs esse nōn abnuit: utrumque contrā ratiōnem.

     Chiefly, the doctrine of Epicurus is that there is no Providence, and he also denies not the existence of gods: both go against reason.

Usage notes

The figurative meaning has almost completely overtaken the literal one.

The word is a favourite of Livy and Tacitus. Older authors prefer the negative formula “haud abnuō”, while authors after the time of Tacitus use “nōn abnuō”.

Conjugation

Conjugation of abnuō (third conjugation)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	abnuō	abnuis	abnuit	abnuimus	abnuitis	abnuunt
	imperfect	abnuēbam	abnuēbās	abnuēbat	abnuēbāmus	abnuēbātis	abnuēbant
	future	abnuam	abnuēs	abnuet	abnuēmus	abnuētis	abnuent
	perfect	abnuī	abnuistī	abnuit	abnuimus	abnuistis	abnuērunt, abnuēre
	pluperfect	abnueram	abnuerās	abnuerat	abnuerāmus	abnuerātis	abnuerant
	future perfect	abnuerō	abnueris	abnuerit	abnuerimus	abnueritis	abnuerint
passive	present	abnuor	abnueris, abnuere	abnuitur	abnuimur	abnuiminī	abnuuntur
	imperfect	abnuēbar	abnuēbāris, abnuēbāre	abnuēbātur	abnuēbāmur	abnuēbāminī	abnuēbantur
	future	abnuar	abnuēris, abnuēre	abnuētur	abnuēmur	abnuēminī	abnuentur
	perfect	abnuitus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	abnuitus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	abnuitus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	abnuam	abnuās	abnuat	abnuāmus	abnuātis	abnuant
	imperfect	abnuerem	abnuerēs	abnueret	abnuerēmus	abnuerētis	abnuerent
	perfect	abnuerim	abnuerīs	abnuerit	abnuerīmus	abnuerītis	abnuerint
	pluperfect	abnuissem	abnuissēs	abnuisset	abnuissēmus	abnuissētis	abnuissent
passive	present	abnuar	abnuāris, abnuāre	abnuātur	abnuāmur	abnuāminī	abnuantur
	imperfect	abnuerer	abnuerēris, abnuerēre	abnuerētur	abnuerēmur	abnuerēminī	abnuerentur
	perfect	abnuitus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	abnuitus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	abnue	—	—	abnuite	—
	future	—	abnuitō	abnuitō	—	abnuitōte	abnuuntō
passive	present	—	abnuere	—	—	abnuiminī	—
	future	—	abnuitor	abnuitor	—	—	abnuuntor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		abnuere	abnuisse	abnuitūrum esse	abnuī	abnuitum esse	abnuitum īrī
participles		abnuēns	—	abnuitūrus	—	abnuitus	abnuendus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		abnuendī	abnuendō	abnuendum	abnuendō	abnuitum	abnuitū

Derived terms

• abnuitiō
• abnūtīvus
• abnutō

Descendants

• Portuguese: abnuir
• Spanish: abnuir

References

• “abnuo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “abnuo”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• abnuo in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2024), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
• abnuo in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “abnuō” in volume 1, column 112, line 52 in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL Open Access), Berlin (formerly Leipzig): De Gruyter (formerly Teubner), 1900–present