nequam

Latin

Etymology

According to De Vaan, from nē- (“not”) +‎ quam (“what, whom”, f. acc. sing. quī). It may derive more directly from the adverb quam (“how”), from the same source. Traditionally derived from, and perhaps historically influenced by nē- (“not”) +‎ aequam (“equal”, f. acc. sing. aequus). Cognate with Russian ничто́жный (ničtóžnyj, “trifling, insignificant, contemptible, worthless, paltry, despicable, mean”), Russian никчёмный (nikčómnyj, “worthless, useless, good for nothing”), Russian никуды́шный (nikudýšnyj, “bad, useless, in no respect good”), all ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“not”) + Proto-Indo-European *kʷ-, with close meanings.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈneː.kʷam/, [ˈneːkʷä̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈne.kwam/, [ˈnɛːkwäm]

Adjective

nēquam (indeclinable, comparative nēquior, superlative nēquissimus)

1. worthless, good-for-nothing
2. wretched, vile

Derived terms

• nēquitia/nēquitiēs

Descendants

• Gallo-Italic:
  • Old Ligurian: necho
  • Old Lombard: nech
    • Lombard: gnec
  • Piedmontese: nech, gnech
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: naco, nèco
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Old Catalan: nec
  • Old Occitan: nèc
    • Occitan: nec

References

• “nequam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nequam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nequam in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a good, useful slave: frugi (opp. nequam) servus