novus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *nowos, from Proto-Indo-European *néwos. Cognates include Old English nīewe (English new), Ancient Greek νέος (néos), Proto-Slavic *novъ, and Sanskrit नव (náva).

Proto-Italic *nowos fails to become Latin *nuus due to specific conditions in the development of Latin, namely -o-(w)- being in the first syllable, whereas *dē nowōd (“anew”) became dēnuō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈno.u̯us/, [ˈnou̯ʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈno.vus/, [ˈnɔːvus]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Adjective

novus (feminine nova, neuter novum, comparative novior, superlative novissimus, adverb novē or noviter); first/second-declension adjective

1. new, novel

   Synonym: recēns

   Antonyms: prīscus, prīstinus, senex, vetus, antīquus

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Ecclesiastes.1.10:

     nihil sub sole novum

     there is nothing new under the sun

2. fresh, young
3. recent
4. unusual, strange, extraordinary

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	novus	nova	novum		novī	novae	nova
Genitive	novī	novae	novī		novōrum	novārum	novōrum
Dative	novō		novō		novīs
Accusative	novum	novam	novum		novōs	novās	nova
Ablative	novō	novā	novō		novīs
Vocative	nove	nova	novum		novī	novae	nova

Derived terms

• dēnuō
• novē
• novellus
• novitās
• novō
• renovō
• novae tabernae or Novae (the new shops—many money-changer shops in the Forum burned down, and those built on their sites were called Novae, shops that remained standing Veteres (vide vetus))
• sub Novīs
• novae tabulae (new account-books, the making of which cancelled old debts)

  (trope) beneficiorum novae tabulae (forgetfulness of benefits)

• Novum Testāmentum
• novus homō or homō novus (the first of his family who obtained a curule office, a man newly ennobled, an upstart)
• nova nupta (a bride)
• novae rēs (new things, novelties, news, revolution)
• nūntius
• Novus Ordo

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: nãu, nou
  • Romanian: nou
• Dalmato-Romance:
  • Dalmatian: nuf
  • Istriot: nuo
• Italo-Romance:
  • Corsican: novu
  • Italian: novo, nuovo
  • Neapolitan: nuovo
  • Sicilian: novu
• Padanian:
  • Friulian: gnûf, gnûv
  • Ladin: nuef
  • Romansch: nov, niev, nouv
  • Venetian: novo, nóvo
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: nôf
  • French: neuf
  • Norman: neu, neuf
  • Walloon: noû
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: nou
  • Occitan: nòu, nau
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Old Leonese:
    • Asturian: nuevu, ñuevu
    • Extremaduran: nuevu
    • Mirandese: nuobo
  • Old Portuguese: novo
    • Galician: novo
    • Portuguese: novo (see there for further descendants)
  • Old Spanish: nuevo, nuebo
    • Ladino: muevo, מואיבﬞו‎
    • Spanish: nuevo
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: nobu, nou, novu

References

• “novus”, 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.
• “novus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• novus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to enter on a new method: novam rationem ingredi
    
  • a parvenu (a man no member of whose family has held curule office): homo novus
    
  • a demagogue, agitator: plebis dux, vulgi turbator, civis turbulentus, civis rerum novarum cupidus
    
  • revolutionists: homines seditiosi, turbulenti or novarum rerum cupidi
    
  • to hold revolutionary opinions: novarum rerum cupidum esse
    
  • (ambiguous) to introduce a new word into the Latin language: inducere novum verbum in latinam linguam
    
  • (ambiguous) to hold revolutionary opinions: novis rebus studere