nudius

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now; well; and”) + diūs, reflecting the original nom.sg. of diēs (“day”) that was later remodelled on the accusative. The former component cognate to Latin num (interrogative particle), nunc (“now”), nūper (“lately, recently”); its length is uncertain, since the original short vowel of PIE appears to have undergone lengthening in numerous daughter languages, with both Sanskrit and Greek showing both variants. The original nominative also surfaces in me-diū̆s-Fidius (“so help me God”, interjection) as well as in diurnus; whether it retained the length of the ū cannot be established. The uncertainty over etymological vowel lengths is compounded by the fact that both the scansions nŭdĭū̆s (with anceps third syllable) and nūdĭŭ(s) (with s-loss or iambic shortening) are possible in all the occurrences except one, where nū- is required.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈnu.di.uːs/, [ˈnʊd̪iuːs̠] or IPA^(key): /ˈnu.di.us/, [ˈnʊd̪iʊs̠]
• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈnuː.di.uːs/, [ˈnuːd̪iuːs̠] or IPA^(key): /ˈnuː.di.us/, [ˈnuːd̪iʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈnu.di.us/, [ˈnuːd̪ius]
• Note: which /u/ was long and short is impossible to establish - see Etymology.

Adverb

nū̆diū̆s (not comparable)

1. (with an ordinal number) (...−1) days ago; literally "it is now the ...th day since"

   nudius tertius ― day before yesterday (it is now the third day)

   nudius quartus ― day before the day before yesterday; three days ago (not four – Latin day counting included both endpoints; if three days ago is the first day, it is now the fourth day)

   • c. 200 BCE, Plautus, Mostellaria 4.965–966:

     heri et nudius tertius, quartus, quintus, sextus […]

     Yesterday and the day before yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that […]

   • c. 189 BCE, Plautus, Truculentus 1.1.74:

     nam ego Lemno advenio Athenas nudius tertius

     Now I reach[ed] Athens from Lemnos the day before yesterday

   • c. 195 BCE, Plautus, Trinummus 3.2.101:

     nudius sextus quoi talentum mutuom dedi, reposcam

     I will demand back the borrowed talent; it is now the sixth day since I gave it

   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations In Catilinam.IV.5.10:

     Is et nū̆diū̆s tertius in custōdiam cīvīs Rōmānōs dedit et supplicātiōnem mihi dēcrēvit […]

     This man both gave Roman citizens into custody three days ago, and voted me a thanskgiving […]

   • 44 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Philippicae 5.1.2:

     Recordamini, qui dies nudius tertius decimus fuerit

     Recall what a day it was twelve days ago.

Derived terms

• nū̆diū̆s( )tertius
• nū̆diū̆stertiānus

Descendants

From nudius tertius:

• Neapolitan: nustierzu (“the day before yesterday”), nustersu, nustiersu, nnustierzu, nnustersu, lustierzu (Calabria)

See also

• trīduum
• diatritaeus

References

• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “diū, diu”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 172
• “nudius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nudius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nudius 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)
• nudius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• nudius in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016