nervus

Latin

Etymology

By a metathesis of Old Latin *neuros, a thematicization of Proto-Indo-European *snḗh₁wr̥ (“sinew, tendon”). Cognates include Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “tendon, string, nerve”), Old English sinu (“tendon, nerve, sinew”). More at English nerve.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈner.u̯us/, [ˈnɛru̯ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈner.vus/, [ˈnɛrvus]

Noun

nervus m (genitive nervī); second declension

1. (anatomy) a sinew, tendon, nerve, muscle
2. a cord, string or wire; string of a musical instrument; bow, bowstring; cords or wires by which a puppet is moved
3. the leather with which shields were covered
4. a thong with which a person was bound; fetter; prison
5. (of plants) a fiber/fibre
6. (figuratively) vigor, force, power, strength, energy, nerve

   Synonym: vīs

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	nervus	nervī
genitive	nervī	nervōrum
dative	nervō	nervīs
accusative	nervum	nervōs
ablative	nervō	nervīs
vocative	nerve	nervī

Derived terms

• ēnervis
• Nerva
• nervālis
• nerviceus
• nervicus
• nervīnus
• nervōsus
• nervulus

Related terms

• nervōsē
• nervōsitās

Descendants

• Dalmatian: niar
• → English: nerve
• French: nerf
• Friulian: gnerf
• → German: Nerv
• → Hunsrik: Nerrev
• Italian: nerbo, nervo
• → Luxembourgish: Nerv
• → Macedonian: нерв (nerv)
• Norwegian:
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: nerve
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: nerve
• Piedmontese: nerv
• Portuguese: nervo
• Romanian: nerv
• → Russian: нерв (nerv)
• → Old Czech: nerv
  • → Czech: nerv
• → Welsh: nerf
• Sicilian: nerbu, nervu
• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: nervium
  • Asturian: nerviu
  • Catalan: nervi
  • Galician: nervio
  • Spanish: nervio

Further reading

• “nervus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nervus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "nervus", 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)
• nervus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to strain every nerve, do one's utmost in a matter: omnes nervos in aliqua re contendere
    
  • to strain every nerve, do one's utmost in a matter: omnibus viribusor nervis contendere, ut
    
  • instrumental music: nervorum et tibiarum cantus
    
  • vocal and instrumental music: vocum et fidium (nervorum) cantus
    
  • to strike the strings of the lyre: pellere nervos in fidibus
    
• “nervus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “nervus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Anagrams

• vē̆rnus

Old French

Etymology

From Latin nervōsus.

Adjective

nervus m (oblique and nominative feminine singular nervuse)

1. sinew; tendon (attributively)