neque

Latin

Alternative forms

• nec (apocope)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *nekʷe (“and not, neither, nor”), from *né (“not”) + *-kʷe (“and”). Cognate with Proto-Celtic *nekʷe, whence Irish nach; Proto-Germanic *nehw, whence Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌷 (nih). Equivalent to Old Latin ne (“not”) + -que (“and”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈnɛ.kʷɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈnɛː.kʷe]

Adverb

neque (not comparable)

1. not

Usage notes

• In Old Latin, the nec form often appeared where one might expect nōn. Classical use confined it to certain formulae, as nec opināns, nec procul abesse, nec mancipī and others.

Conjunction

neque

1. and not, also not

   neque ... neque (or neque ... et)

   neither ... nor

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 1.42:

     Caesar, quod neque conloquium interposita causa tolli volebat neque salutem suam Gallorum equitatui committere audebat, commodissimum esse statuit omnibus equis Gallis equitibus detractis eo legionarios milites legionis X., cui quam maxime confidebat, imponere, ut praesidium quam amicissimum, si quid opus facto esset, haberet.

     Caesar, as he didn't want either the interview to be for any reason set aside or confide his wellbeing in the hands of the Gallic cavalry, said he saw as most fit the Gallic horsemen be stripped off their steeds and in their place mount legionaries of the 10th legion, in which he had the utmost faith, that he might have as trusted a body-guard as one could have if the occasion ever urged its use.

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.30:

     neque se in occultum abdiderat et conspectum multitudinis fugerat

     And neither had concealed himself nor shunned the eyes of the people

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.380:

     “Neque tē teneō, neque dicta refellō.”

     “I neither detain you, nor refute [what you] have said.”

Derived terms

• nequeō

Descendants

(Note: see the apocopated variant nec for further descendants.)

• Balkano-Romance:
  • Aromanian: nitsi
  • Romanian: nici

References

• “neque”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “neque”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “neque”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • I am losing my eyesight and getting deaf: neque auribus neque oculis satis consto
    
  • there is nothing strange in that: neque id mirum est or videri debet
    
  • and rightly too: neque immerito (iniuria)
    
  • and rightly too: neque id immerito (iniuria)