nodus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nōdus (“a knot”). Doublet of knot, knout, and node.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -əʊdəs

Noun

nodus (plural nodi)

1. A difficulty.
2. (zoology) In the Odonata, a prominent crossvein near the centre of the leading edge of a wing.

Derived terms

• nodal

Anagrams

• Sound, sound, udons, undos

Latin

Etymology

Uncertain. Per De Vaan, potentially a loanword; it is possibly related to nassa (“fish-trap made of wickerwork”) and necto (“I bind”).

One theory derives it from Proto-Indo-European *gned-, *gnod- (“to bind”) and makes it cognate to Proto-Germanic *knuttô (“knot”) (whence Modern English knot).

Another theory derives it from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to turn, twist, knot”), whence English net and possibly nettle, Avestan 𐬥𐬀𐬯𐬐𐬀-‎ (naska-, “bundle”), Old Irish nascim (“to bind”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈnoː.dus/, [ˈnoːd̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈno.dus/, [ˈnɔːd̪us]

Noun

nōdus m (genitive nōdī); second declension

1. a knot (in rope)
2. a knot (in wood)
3. a knob
4. a bond
5. an obligation
6. a sticking point
7. (in the plural) a knotted fishing net

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	nōdus	nōdī
Genitive	nōdī	nōdōrum
Dative	nōdō	nōdīs
Accusative	nōdum	nōdōs
Ablative	nōdō	nōdīs
Vocative	nōde	nōdī

Synonyms

• (knot): nōdāmen

Derived terms

• nōdus Herculis, nōdus Herculāneus (“a knot difficult to untie”)
• nōdum in scirpō querō (“to look for knots in a bulrush which contains none; to find difficulties where there are none”)
• nōdus linguae (“the bond or tie of the tongue”)

  Nōdum linguae rumpere.

  To break the bond of the tongue.

• nōdus tollens (“the feeling that the plot of one's own life no longer makes sense (neologism)”)

Related terms

• internōdium
• nōdulus
• nōdō
• nōdōsitās
• nōdōsus
• nōdōsē
• ēnōdis

 

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: nod, nodu
  • Romanian: nod
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: nodo
• Padanian:
  • Piedmontese: neu
  • Romansch: nuf, nuv, nouv
• Northern Gallo Romance:
  • Old French: neu
    • French: nœud
    • Norman: noeud
  • Old Occitan: nou
    • ⇒ Old Occitan: nous, nos pl
      • Occitan: nos
      • → Middle English: nose
        • English: noose
    • Gascon: nod, nòd, nòi
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: nou, noyu
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: noo
    • Galician: nó
    • Portuguese: nó
• Sardinian:
  • nodu, nudu
• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *nūdus
  • Southern Gallo-Romance:
    • Aragonese: nugo, ñudo
    • Gascon: nud, nus, nuth
    • Old Catalan: nuu
      • Catalan: nuu, nu, nuc
      • ⇒ Catalan: nus
  • Ibero-Romance:
    • Asturian: nudu, nuedu (perhaps influenced by Spanish)
    • Old Spanish:
      • Spanish: nudo
• Borrowings:
  • → Irish: nód
  • → Middle English: node
    • English: node
      • → Irish: nód
  • → Old Albanian: nye, neu
    • Albanian: nyjë, nyje, neje, nye
  • → Portuguese: nodo
  • → Spanish: nodo

See also

• nexus

Further reading

• “nodus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nodus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nodus 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)
• nodus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• “nodus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin