noceo

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *nokeō, from earlier *nokejō, from Proto-Indo-European *noḱ-éye-ti, causative of the root *neḱ- (perish, disappear). Cognate with Sanskrit नश्यति (naśyati, disappear, perish).

Pronunciation

Verb

noceō (present infinitive nocēre, perfect active nocuī, supine nocitum); second conjugation

  1. (with dative) to injure, do harm to, hurt, damage
    Synonyms: mulcō, feriō, sauciō, vulnerō, secō, īnfestō, laedō
    • c. 50 BCE, Publilius Syrus, Sententiae:
      Bonīs nocet quisquis pepercit malīs.
      He does harm to the good, whoever has been lenient to the bad

Usage notes

  • The injury caused may be physical or emotional.

Conjugation

  • In practice, the only passive forms met with in Latin are the third-person singular forms.

1At least one use of the Old Latin "sigmatic future" and "sigmatic aorist" tenses is attested, which are used by Old Latin writers; most notably Plautus and Terence. The sigmatic future is generally ascribed a future or future perfect meaning, while the sigmatic aorist expresses a possible desire ("might want to").
2The present passive infinitive in -ier is a rare poetic form which is attested.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Rhaeto-Romance:
    • Friulian: nosê
    • Romansch: noscher, nuschair
  • Gallo-Romance:
    • Old French: nuisir
  • Ibero-Romance:

Reflexes of an assumed variant *nocĕre:[1]

References

  1. ^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “nŏcēre”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 7: N–Pas, page 162

Further reading

  • noceo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • noceo”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • noceo in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.