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

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *gned-, *gnod- (“to bind”). Cognate with necto (“I bind”), Avestan 𐬥𐬀𐬯𐬐𐬀-‎ (naska-, “bundle”), Old Irish nascim (“to bind”), Old Norse knútr (whence Danish knude, Norwegian knut, and Icelandic hnútur), Old English cnotta (Modern English knot), Old English cnyttan (Modern English knit), Old High German knotto (German Knoten), Middle Dutch cnudde (Dutch knot), English net, nettle.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈnoː.dus/, [ˈnoːd̪ʊs̠]
• (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

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

 

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 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

References

• “nodus”, in Charlton T[homas] Lewis; Charles [Lancaster] Short (1879) […] A New Latin Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company; 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