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nullus

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Latin

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Etymology

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    From Proto-Italic *noinolos, from *ne oinolos (literally “not (a) little one”), from a diminutive of Proto-Italic *oinos (“one”), from Proto-Indo-European *óynos. By surface analysis, ne (“not”) +‎ ūllus (“any”), literally “not any”.[1]

    Pronunciation

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    Pronoun

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    nūllus (feminine nūlla, neuter nūllum); first/second-declension pronoun (pronominal declension or non-pronominal declension)

    1. no one, none, not any, nothing
      Nūllum amat.
      He loves no one.
      • 161 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Eunuchus 41:
        Nūllumst iam dictum quod nōn sīt dictum prius.
        Nothing is said now that has not been said before.
        (An elision of nullum est, meaning “there is nothing” or “nothing is.”)
      • 63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.30:
        Quamquam nōn nūllī sunt in hōc ōrdine, quī aut ea, quae imminent, nōn videant aut ea, quae vident, dissimulent; […] .
        And yet, it is not that there are none in this very body (the Senate) who either do not see [the dangers] that are imminent, or who conceal [what] they do see; […] .
        (Exemplifies litotes, and conveys the opposite understanding: “there are some.”)

    Declension

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    First/second-declension pronoun (pronominal declension or non-pronominal declension).

    singular plural
    masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
    nominative nūllus nūlla nūllum nūllī nūllae nūlla
    genitive nūllī̆us
    nūllī     		nūllī̆us
    nūllae     		nūllī̆us
    nūllī     		nūllōrum nūllārum nūllōrum
    dative nūllī
    nūllō     		nūllī
    nūllae     		nūllī
    nūllō     		nūllīs
    accusative nūllum nūllam nūllum nūllōs nūllās nūlla
    ablative nūllō nūllā nūllō nūllīs
    vocative nūlle nūlla nūllum nūllī nūllae nūlla

    Determiner

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    nūllus (feminine nūlla, neuter nūllum); first/second-declension determiner (pronominal declension or non-pronominal declension)

    1. no, not any
      • c. 97 CE – 104 CE, Plinius Minor, Epistulae 1.9:
        nūllā spē, nūllō timōre sollicitor, nūllīs rūmōribus inquiētor: mēcum tantum et cum libellīs loquor.
        I am not disturbed by any hope, not by any fear; I am not disquieted by any rumours: I speak only with me and with the little books.
    2. (chiefly pre-classical and conversational) used instead of nōn or nē, declined according to the subject of the verb

    Declension

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    First/second-declension determiner (pronominal declension or non-pronominal declension).

    singular plural
    masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
    nominative nūllus nūlla nūllum nūllī nūllae nūlla
    genitive nūllī̆us
    nūllī     		nūllī̆us
    nūllae     		nūllī̆us
    nūllī     		nūllōrum nūllārum nūllōrum
    dative nūllī
    nūllō     		nūllī
    nūllae     		nūllī
    nūllō     		nūllīs
    accusative nūllum nūllam nūllum nūllōs nūllās nūlla
    ablative nūllō nūllā nūllō nūllīs
    vocative nūlle nūlla nūllum nūllī nūllae nūlla

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    Romance

    Some Romance descendants may be borrowings.

    • Gallo-Italic
      • Piedmontese: nul
    • → Catalan: nul
    • Italo-Dalmatian
    • → Old French: nul (see there for further descendants)
    • Rhaeto-Romance:
    • West Iberian
    Other languages

    References

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    1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “ūnus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 642: “Derivatives > line 1 > nūllus”

    Further reading

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    • “nullus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • “nullus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • "nullus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
    • “nullus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • to devote every spare moment to...; to work without intermission at a thing: nullum tempus intermittere, quin (also ab opere, or ad opus)
      • to be of great (no) importance: magni (nullius) momenti esse
      • no opportunity of carrying out an object presents itself: nulla est facultas alicuius rei
      • to avoid no risk in order to..: nullum periculum recusare pro
      • I had not deserved it: nullo meo merito
      • not to leave off work for an instant: nullum tempus a labore intermittere
      • without any trouble: nullo negotio
      • without reflection; inconsiderately; rashly: nullo consilio, nulla ratione, temere
      • to make all possible haste to..: nullam moram interponere, quin (Phil. 10. 1. 1)
      • without delay: sine mora or nulla mora interposita
      • nothing will ever make me forgetful of him: memoriam eius nulla umquam delebit (obscurabit) oblivio (Fam. 2. 1)
      • to know nothing of logic: disserendi artem nullam habere
      • to arrange on strictly logical principles: ratione, eleganter (opp. nulla ratione, ineleganter, confuse) disponere aliquid
      • to say nothing either for or against an argument: in nullam partem disputare
      • no sound passed his lips: nulla vox est ab eo audita
      • to not say a word: nullum (omnino) verbum facere
      • no word escaped him: nullum verbum ex ore eius excidit (or simply ei)
      • not to understand a single word: verbum prorsus nullum intellegere
      • to possess not the least spark of feeling: nullam partem sensus habere
      • to fulfil one's duty in every detail: nullam officii partem deserere
      • to act reasonably, judiciously: prudenter, considerate, consilio agere (opp. temere, nullo consilio, nulla ratione)
      • to be conscious of no ill deed: nullius culpae sibi conscium esse
      • with no moderation: sine modo; nullo modo adhibito
      • to have no principles: omnia temere agere, nullo iudicio uti
      • absence of scruples, unconscientiousness: nulla religio
      • to have no constitution, be in anarchy: nullam habere rem publicam
      • to be neutral: nullius or neutrius (of two) partis esse
      • lawlessness; anarchy: leges nullae
      • lawlessness; anarchy: iudicia nulla
      • there are whispers of the appointment of a dictator: non nullus odor est dictaturae (Att. 4. 18)
      • absence of justice: ius nullum
    • nullus in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
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