nema

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nema"

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse nema, from Proto-Germanic *nemaną, from Proto-Indo-European *nem-, *neme-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈneːma/

  Rhymes: -eːma

Verb

nema (third person singular past indicative nam, third person plural past indicative numu, supine nomið)

1. to touch, seize
   1. to touch on, refer to
   2. to make an impression, influence
2. to steal
3. to learn
4. to notice

Conjugation

Conjugation of nema (group v-49-52)

infinitive	nema
supine	nomið
	present	past
first singular	nemi	nam
second singular	nemur	namst
third singular	nemur	nam
plural	nema	numu/ nómu
participle (a34/a26)1	nemandi	nomin
	imperative
singular	nem!
plural	nemið!

¹Only the past participle being declined.

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɛːma/
• Rhymes: -ɛːma

Etymology 1

From Old Norse nema, from Proto-Germanic *nemaną, from Proto-Indo-European *nem-, *neme-.

Verb

nema (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative nam, third-person plural past indicative námu, supine numið)

1. to take, capture
2. to mine (ore, coal, etc.)
3. to amount to
4. to detect, perceive

   Augað er það skynfæri er nemur ljós.

   The eye is the (that) organ which detects light.

5. to study (a specified subject)

   Ég nem frönsku.

   I study French.

6. (poetic) an auxiliary verb used with a main verb in the infinitive; this construction has the same meaning as the main verb, its inflection simply being transferred to the auxiliary, and serves merely to obtain a fitting rhyme and syllable structure

   Bjarni nam ei fálkann fá

   [Bjarni fékk ei fálkann]

   Bjarni did not get the falcon (i.e. the Order of the Falcon)

   (first line of a ditty from Útvarp Matthildur)

7. to touch, to reach [with við (+ accusative)]

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• nemi
• nemandi
• nám
• næmur

Etymology 2

From Old Norse nema.

Conjunction

nema

1. (connecting noun phrases) except
2. (connecting clauses) unless
3. (connecting clauses) but that, whether or not (introducing a hypothetical but likely scenario)

Derived terms

• ber er hver að baki, nema sér bróður eigi

Anagrams

• amen

Japanese

Romanization

nema

1. Rōmaji transcription of ねま

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁-der.

Ancient Greek νέω (néō)

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥

Ancient Greek -μα (-ma)

Ancient Greek νῆμα (nêma)bor.

Latin nēma

Borrowed from Ancient Greek νῆμα (nêma).

Noun

nēma n (genitive nēmatis); third declension

1. yarn, thread

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	nēma	nēmata
genitive	nēmatis	nēmatum
dative	nēmatī	nēmatibus
accusative	nēma	nēmata
ablative	nēmate	nēmatibus
vocative	nēma	nēmata

References

• “nema”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nema”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Old Frisian

Verb

nema

1. alternative form of nima

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *nemaną, from Proto-Indo-European *nem-, *neme-.

Verb

nema (singular past indicative nam, plural past indicative námu, past participle numinn)

1. to take
   1. to learn (especially by heart)

      Hón kvað, en hann nam.

      She sang, and he memorized it.

      Ek nam vísur at vísum mǫnnum.

      I learned verses from wise men.

2. to begin

   Hann nam eta.

   He began to eat.

Conjugation

Conjugation of nema — active (strong class 4)

infinitive	nema
present participle	nemandi
past participle	numinn
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	nem	nam		nema	næma
2nd person singular	nemr	namt		nemir	næmir
3rd person singular	nemr	nam		nemi	næmi
1st person plural	nemum	námum		nemim	næmim
2nd person plural	nemið	námuð		nemið	næmið
3rd person plural	nema	námu		nemi	næmi
imperative	present
2nd person singular	nem
1st person plural	nemum
2nd person plural	nemið

Conjugation of nema — mediopassive (strong class 4)

infinitive	nemask
present participle	nemandisk
past participle	numizk
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	nemumk	námumk		nemumk	næmumk
2nd person singular	nemsk	namzk		nemisk	næmisk
3rd person singular	nemsk	namsk		nemisk	næmisk
1st person plural	nemumsk	námumsk		nemimsk	næmimsk
2nd person plural	nemizk	námuzk		nemizk	næmizk
3rd person plural	nemask	námusk		nemisk	næmisk
imperative	present
2nd person singular	nemsk
1st person plural	nemumsk
2nd person plural	nemizk

Descendants

• Icelandic: nema
• Faroese: nema
• Norwegian Nynorsk: nema
• Old Swedish: nima
  • Swedish: nimma, (förnimma)
• Scanian: nimma
• Old Danish: næmæ
  • Danish: nemme

Etymology 2

From a form related to né (“not; nor”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”). Probably cognate with Old English nefne, Old English nemne (“except, unless”).

Conjunction

nema

1. except, unless, save

   Hann drap alla sveina nema einn.

   He slew all the boys, save one.

2. but
   • 1200s, Old Norwegian Homily Book (AM 619 4to.), Matthew 10:34-35
   • Eigi kom ek til þess at senda frið nema heldr sverð, til þess kom ek at skilja sun frá feðr ok dóttur frá móður sinni.

     I did not come to bring peace, but rather a sword, I came to separate son from father, and daughter from her mother.

Related terms

• né (“not; nor”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: nema
• Faroese: neman
• Old Swedish: numa, num

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “nema”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀦𑁂𑀫 (Brahmi script)
• नेम (Devanagari script)
• নেম (Bengali script)
• නෙම (Sinhalese script)
• နေမ or ၼေမ (Burmese script)
• เนม or เนมะ (Thai script)
• ᨶᩮᨾ (Tai Tham script)
• ເນມ or ເນມະ (Lao script)
• នេម (Khmer script)
• 𑄚𑄬𑄟 (Chakma script)

Verb

nema

1. present/imperative active first-person plural of neti (“to lead”)

Serbo-Croatian

Adjective

nema (Cyrillic spelling нема)

1. inflection of nem:
   1. feminine nominative/vocative singular
   2. indefinite masculine/neuter genitive singular
   3. indefinite animate masculine accusative singular
   4. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Verb

nema (Cyrillic spelling нема)

1. third-person singular present of nemati

Spanish

Noun

nema f (plural nemas)

1. seal of a letter

Further reading

• “nema”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n̪e.ˈma/

Determiner

nema

1. (proximal) this, these

   Synonyms: ne, mene

   carita nema ― this story

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982), The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[1], Pacific linguistics (as nemá)